The Path of Warriors
by WizardDemigodGladerGatekeeper
Summary: A kidnapped God, a dark wizard and an evil force so ancient, many had long forgotten it. James Sirius Potter and Rose Weasley must join three demigods on a life endangering quest; overcoming suspicion, fear, and doubt. Only both their worlds together can defeat the enemy, but the prophecy says not all will make it back alive... ON HOLD. Sorry guys... :(
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! This is my first crossover, so it might not be that good. I saw that most of the crossovers had Percy and some demigods meet Harry Ron and Hermione, so I decided to write something different. I don't mean that offensively; a lot of the fics out there are AMAZING! I just wanted to try something different… please please please review and tell me what you think of the story, all kinds of reviews are perfectly welcome! This story has my OC as one of the main characters too, because I really like writing stories with OCs. Please tell me what you guys think of my character and my story! It means a lot to me, it really does. I'm sorry in advance if this chapter is boring, but please review, and I'll try to make the others better! *grins***

**Dis.: I'm only gonna say this once. I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, or Harry Potter. They belong to Rick Riordan and J. K. Rowling respectively. I don't have that genius of a mind. They do. **

~.~.~.~.

James:

I lumbered into the forest, my fingers clutching the lamp I held. Beside me, my cousin Rose Weasley tripped on a vine, then steadied herself by taking the support of a low tree branch. All around us, the sounds of the forest had ceased, with the occasional chirp of a cricket, or the hoot of an owl. The eeriness was further increased by the deathly darkness of the night sky, which was almost devoid of stars tonight.

"Honestly James! You're sixteen, and you didn't have enough sense to turn down that stupid dare Trevor gave you!" Rose reprimanded. I grinned, "I'm a Gryffindor Rose. I don't _turn down_ dares from Slytherins."

I walked ahead, leaving her huffing behind me. "If you're too chicken, you could always go back and tell Trevor and his gang that you couldn't, how did he put it again? Ah, yes. You couldn't 'hack it'." I called back. After a moment, I could hear her footsteps following me, as she caught up.

"Fine, but the moment I get back-" She started, but I cut her off. "Shh…" I said, practically in a whisper. I held up my hand for her to be quiet, and she knew me well enough not to argue.

"What is it?" she asked, looking around for danger. I ignored her, listening intently. A moment ago I thought I had heard voices, but now the silence of the forest had returned.

"James, I'm serious. We really should go back. This is way too freaky." Rose commented. I nodded, realizing now that a stupid dare wasn't worth this. Besides, Trevor had dared me to go into the forbidden forest; he hadn't specified for how long I needed to be there.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go."

I turned to go, but froze. Rose let out a yelp, and I opened my mouth to yell, but my voice had stopped working. There stood in front of us, blocking our way back, a large reptilian creature. Its scales were gleaming, and its yellow eyes made my heart crawl into my throat. I knew for a fact that we were goners. I didn't know how it had crept up on us so silently, but now its nostrils flared, as it slowly made its way towards us, closing in for the kill.

~.~.~.~.

Leo:

"You sure this is the place?" I asked. Percy Jackson was a step ahead of me, his sword drawn. Riptide's celestial bronze blade glowed in the dark, illuminating our path. He nodded. "Yep. This is where Chiron wanted us to come."

"There's nothing here! Unless Chiron wanted us to examine a bunch of rocks in a creepy forest, I don't see any solid reason for sending us here." DJ McEllow complained from beside me. She was Percy's half-sister, and looked a bit like him too: skinny, yet athletic, with pixie-cut black hair, and green eyes. She was fifteen, my age, and a year younger than Percy. She walked steadily, poised for attacking anything that came our way. Percy had forbidden me from using my fire before we saw signs of an eminent attack, so as to avoid forest fires; they were too much of a nuisance.

"It stinks here." I commented, trying to break the freaky silence. Suddenly the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I stopped dead in my tracks. The others must've felt it too, for they stopped as well, readying themselves.

"You guys feel that?" DJ asked, her eyes scanning the perimeter for any threat. I nodded, and let Percy lead us forward. I heard soft voices, somewhere off to my left.

"Guys, check this out." DJ called out, crouching low. She was pointing at something on the ground, and I stooped low to see it.

It was a huge footprint, and I immediately knew of what. "That's a Drakon isn't it?" I asked, my throat dry. DJ nodded. "Yep. Its either that, or Godzilla's real and decided to make a trip to London."

"C'mon, we'll follow the footprints, see where it leads us." Percy ordered, already heading off along the trail. DJ sighed. "Now, I understand that after defeating Gaia, y'all don't find anything as much of a challenge" she said, getting up to follow her brother, "but can we please _not_ go looking for a monster? I don't like the prospect of heading towards my death."

Percy pretended not to hear her. I looked at her. "C'mon. The faster we get this over with, the sooner I can get back to my fronzies." We followed Percy into the darkness.

We hadn't gone more than ten meters, when we spotted the beast. It was as long as four school buses put together; large enough to make the Minotaur look like a rag doll. It was facing in front, with its side to us, and we saw what it was looking at.

Two teenagers, about our age, were standing petrified, staring at the Drakon. The boy held a lantern in one hand, and what seemed to be a fancy looking stick in the other. The girl also had a stick, which she held up like a weapon. Despite our situation, I had to stifle a laugh. These two apparently thought a _stick_ would be a good defense against a _Drakon_.

"HEY!" Percy yelled, successfully diverting the attention of the Drakon. It turned towards us, and I looked away. I hadn't fought a Drakon before, but I knew that their eyes paralyzed you. That must've been why the two people hadn't been able to move, but now that the Drakon had picked new targets, they huddled near a far tree, putting themselves out of the line of danger.

My arms caught fire, and I ran in front of the Drakon, waving them over my head, screaming at the top of my lungs. I had fought with DJ and Percy innumerable times, and I knew our plans. I was to be the distraction, while DJ and Percy killed the monster.

The Drakon turned towards me, its head following my movements. For a moment, it looked confused as though it wasn't used to its prey being so crazy, but it snapped out of it quickly. It spat poison towards me, and I jumped out of the way just in time. The poison melted the grass on the ground on which I had been standing just a moment ago.

DJ shot three arrows into its eye, blinding it on one side. It opened its mouth in a shriek, and I took the opportunity to shoot a flaming ball of fire down its gullet. It screamed again, and retreated. DJ abandoned her bow, tossing it away. She took out a long silver rod, and flicked it. It expanded until she was holding a meter-and-a-half long half-celestial bronze half-steel blade. Lancer was the name that she called it by. She charged the Drakon's feet, and swung her sword, leaving a deep wound in its calf, which started bleeding an oily black substance. This gave Percy time to climb onto its back, using the scales as handholds.

I shot white-hot flames towards the Drakon, successfully scorching its chest. It wailed again, and DJ took the opportunity. Using the hand of the beast as a lever, she launched herself at its face. She turned her face away, and drove her sword into its other eye. She leapt off, and watched as Percy finished the work.

He rapidly climbed up to its neck, and raised his sword high. Then, with a defiant yell, he brought it down on the neck of the Drakon, severing it from the body.

He jumped off, just as the beast disintegrated, leaving behind no sign of its existence.

Percy ran over to the two teenagers, who seemed no less scared, even though the monster was gone.

"Are you guys okay?" he asked. They answered him by screaming at his face and backing up, almost as if they were scared of us.

"Hey, mate, we ain't here to hurt you." DJ said, flicking her sword again so that it turned back to the rod.

"STAY AWAY!" the boy yelled, holding out his stick. Now I was beginning to get annoyed. We had defeated the Drakon trying to save them, and these people acted as though _we_ were the monsters.

I stepped closer to them, and the boy yelled, "Stupefy!"

I was knocked off my feet, as every muscle in my body stopped working. It felt as if I had gotten a full body anesthesia done, though I knew that wasn't the case. I now knew that the sticks these two carried were no ordinary pieces of wood. I started to recover, just as DJ yelled "WATCH OUT PERCY!"

Something leaped over me, and I could barely make out its form. I willed myself to recover faster, but it wasn't working. I could only lift my head enough to see that four hellhounds now stood facing us, mouths frothing in expectation of their newest victims.

~.~.~.~.~.

James:

The latino boy lay on the ground, and I knew my stunning spell had worked perfectly. The girl and the older boy (who seemed to be siblings) held out their weapons to us, wide-eyed. The girl was now holding a knife, and the boy, his sword. I raised my wand to throw another spell at them, when the girl yelled "WATCH OUT PERCY!"

Something leapt over the body of the boy who lay on the ground, and I turned in horror to see what it was. They seemed to be dogs, if dogs had been the size of garbage trucks. There were four of them, and they bared their fangs. Each canine was as long as my forearm, and was dripping blood from god-knows-what.

"INCENDIO!" Rose yelled, and the ground in front of the dog burst into flames. The girl held out her hand, eyes closed. The flames started to grow bigger, until they fully shielded the dogs from our view. I was now convinced that these people were a threat. They had defeated the snake-thing, but they wouldn't be here in the first place if they didn't have any bad intent.

I focused my mind on the fight; I would deal with them later. The girl closed her fist, and the flames died down, to reveal four slightly burnt yet very angry hounds.

The girl and the boy rushed forward. The boy swung his sword at the first dog, which immediately disintegrated to dust. The other swiped its claws at the girl, slicing three marks across her stomach. She stumbled, but regained her balance and slashed her knife at it, cutting a deep gash in its body. I raised my wand and yelled "Petrificus totalus!"

The third beast froze, my spell having hit it. The girl stabbed down with her sword, and that too disintegrated. The third dog leaped at us, but a white hot bolt of fire came from beside us, and burnt its face. It wasn't dead, and I could see the latino boy slowly recovering. He got up, and held out his palm, and it burst into flames. He shot two more balls of fire at the dog, and it vapourized. I could see the other boy struggling with the fourth monster, the one with the gash in its back. It leapt at him, bringing him down. His hand was flattened away, but he brought it back, and stabbed the dog from the side. It too exploded into dust all over him.

The latino boy stumbled up, and took at step towards us, his hands still flaming. My guess was confirmed. He was going to kill us. Rose screamed, and out of sheer desperation and panic, I spoke the first offensive spell that came into my mind, knowing full well what the effects were. I regretted the words as soon as they escaped my mouth.

"Sectumsempra!" I yelled, as the spell shot towards the boy. He ducked, falling to the ground in an attempt to avoid being hit, but the pixie-haired girl, who stood behind him, was unsuspecting. The spell hit her straight in the chest, and she fell to the ground, gaping wounds appearing all over her body, oozing thick red blood.

**A/N: Please tell me what you think of it! I want to become a better writer, and I can't do that without your help. So please review and tell me how I can improve, how you liked the story, anything at all! I also apologize if the action wasn't up to the mark, but this is my first attempt, and I promise to try and write better.**

**Gracias!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey y'all! Here's the second chapter of my story, and I'm sorry if it's boring. I promise to start the action soon, but please review and tell me what you think of this! Reviews really motivate me to write more, and also tell me how to improve. So please feel free to drop one! I know it's more exciting to read a story with more chapters, so I'm trying to put them up as fast as I can. Hope you like it! :)**

~.~.~.

Leo:

"DJ!" Percy yelled, his voice full of worry. I ran over to where she lay, now having fully recovered. I didn't know what had affected me, but now was not the time to worry about it. I pulled out a square of ambrosia from my pockets, and fed it to DJ.

Nothing happened. DJ's condition was worsening by the second, and it hurt me to even look at her. Her clothes were stained completely red from all the wounds, all of which seemed to be deep. More were appearing all over her, and she wouldn't stop coughing. Her lips were full of blood too, for she spurted out more blood with every cough. She was twitching violently on the ground, and Percy seemed to be panicking.

"She won't be healed by water! I don't know why the ambrosia didn't work! It's supposed to heal her!" He cried, clearly distressed. The two teenagers ran up to us. The boy knelt beside me, and looked at DJ's wounded form, his expression somewhat a mix of shock and horror.

"I didn't mean to! I swear, it was an accident! I just panicked, and-" The boy started, only to be cut off by Percy.

"It doesn't matter! Can you fix her?" He scowled at him, and the boy retreated. I could understand why. Percy was giving off an aura of strength so strong, that every instinct told me to bolt. There was no saying what he would do to the boy if anything happened to DJ. Not that I'd spare the boy either.

The boy shook his head. "I don't know a counter jinx. I'm so sorry!"

"You did this to her. NOW FIX IT!" Percy yelled. I flinched, but didn't say anything. The boy on the other hand, spoke in a shaky voice. "I don't know how…" his words died in his throat, as Percy got up and uncapped Riptide. His eyes were dangerously stormy, and I was worried he might have done something nasty, when the girl stepped up and put a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"We should take her to the castle, Madame Pomfrey will be able to help her." she said, clearly afraid of Percy. He stopped, and lowered Riptide. "What?"

The boy nodded vigorously. "Help me take her back to the castle, and Madame Pomfrey might be able to help out!"

Percy glanced at DJ, then at me. I nodded, seeing no other choice. If we didn't get DJ healed, she would die of blood loss, assuming the multiple wounds didn't kill her.

Percy slung one arm of DJ's around his neck, and I did the same with the other. We hoisted her up, and Percy glared at the boy.

"Lead the way." He ordered.

The boy and the girl turned and started walking away, with us on their heels. DJ's blood left a trail of red on the forest floor, and I yelled at the two to hurry up. They listened without arguing.

We couldn't have gone more than thirty yards, when I spotted the castle the two were talking about. It was huge, like something out of a fairytale. Towers stood at the corners, and the walls seemed to be made of ancient stone. I didn't bother admiring the entire structure; I had bigger problems at the moment.

"This way." The boy said, leading us towards a gate. Percy and I were half-dragging, half-carrying DJ, and her head slumped down. She seemed to have fallen unconscious, and that made us hurry even more. The boy pushed open the gate, and ran inside, only to bump into a young man in robes.

"James? What in devil's name are you doing out here at this hideous hour?" He inquired, looking surprised.

"Professor Neville! Oh thank god. We need to take this girl to the hospital!" The girl said, speaking up for the boy, who seemed shocked into silence, probably at what he'd done to DJ. The man, who seemed to be in his mid-thirties, looked at DJ, and his eyes widened, as if he hadn't noticed her before (though how you can miss a girl covered in blood supported by two sweaty, dirty boys, I don't know.)

"Yes yes, come right this way. It's not far." He started leading us, glancing back at DJ every now and then. My worry was increasing by the instant, and so was DJ's dripping blood. I didn't know how she could be alive at this point, but I hoped against hope that she'd make it.

We reached a door, and the man threw it open, to reveal a startled lady sipping on her tea. She noticed DJ immediately, and set her glass on the table, running over to us. "Set her here." She ordered, gesturing towards an empty bed. Percy and I set DJ down onto the bed. The lady, who looked to be around sixty or so, peered at her, and nodded.

"Sectumsempra wasn't it? I know just what to do." she walked over to a cupboard, and threw it open.

She glanced back at us, as if we were intruding something. "Well out with the lot of you, you can't expect me to fix her up with all of you staring!" she said. We didn't argue. DJ didn't seem to have much time left, and I didn't want to waste a single moment. The lady followed us, and began to shut the door, when she stopped, looking at Percy.

"You seem to be her brother." Percy nodded, and she smiled warmly at him. "Don't you worry dear, this isn't anything I can't fix. She'll be alright."

~.~.~.~.

James:

We sat outside the hospital, waiting for news on the girl. I didn't have words for how guilty I felt. Sure, I still didn't trust these people, especially not the brother of the girl. He seemed only too willing to gut me, after I hit the girl with my spell. But that didn't mean I could kill anyone. I had my head in my hands, while Rose sat beside me, rubbing my shoulder.

I heard people running up to us, and looked up. There stood at least five Hogwarts teachers, all the heads of the houses, and the headmistress herself. My heart sank. I would surely be punished now.

"I will guess it was you James." Headmistress McGonagall said, looking down at me. "I didn't mean it! I swear to god Professor! I was desperate, and this was the first spell that came to my mind! I thought these people wanted to attack us!" I said, in an attempt to explain myself.

"Attack you? Mate, we just fought a bloody Drakon and four hellhounds trying to protect your bottoms and you say we were trying to _attack you_?" The Latino boy said. The words 'hellhound' and 'Drakon' were foreign to me, but I didn't linger on it for long. I looked down, guilty.

"Wait a minute." Professor McGonagall said, "You said hellhounds?"

The green-eyed boy nodded, and the Professor sighed, as if she'd been expecting this.

"So you three are the brave heroes Chiron decided to send." She said, and both of the boys jumped up.

"You know Chiron?" the green-eyed one asked, looking incredulous. Professor McGonagall nodded, smiling softly. "I've been waiting for you." I was now officially confused, and judging by their expressions, the boys were too. Professor seemed like she was about to continue, but just then, the door swung open, and Madame Pomfrey stepped out, beaming.

"Come right in! She's awake."

The two boys looked torn between wanting to see the girl, and learning more from McGonagall, but she solved their dilemma. She put a hand on the Latino boy's shoulder, and smiled reassuringly.

"Let us go inside. There are many things we need to discuss."

~.~.~.~.

Leo:

Percy and I burst through the doors, and ran over to DJ's bed. I exhaled a sigh of relief, and Percy hugged her. She looked much better now; the wounds seemed to have disappeared, and the lady had cleaned her up nicely, for she wore new clothes, not her blood-stained ones. She grinned at us, then at the boy. "That was a real nasty thing you did there bro." She told him, but she somehow didn't seem angry. "I'm so sorry!" he cried, rushing over to her bed. "I didn't mean to hurt you so badly!" She nodded at him, showing her forgiveness, sitting up on her bed, as the teachers (that's what I assumed they were, judging by their attire) gathered round. Once everyone had confirmed she was okay, the lady with the pointy hat, who seemed to be in command over here, sat down on the other side of the bed, opposite where Percy and I were sitting. She stroked DJ's forehead and said, "I'm sorry about what happened, and I take up the responsibility of explaining."

"Oh yeah, 'cause y'all got a heck of a lot of explaining to do." DJ replied. "First things first. How do you know Chiron sent us?" Percy asked.

The lady stood up. "Perhaps I should start with introductions." She said, " I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, headmistress of The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

I probably would have laughed my intestines out on hearing the name, but something else caught my attention. "Witchcraft and wizardry?" I asked, confused.

She nodded. "Yes. You see, you are not the only magical folk there are. Our world is one of spells, enchantments, wands, and many more… magical things." She softened her gaze. "I know this must be a lot to take in, but I request you to co-operate. Time is not a luxury we have."

Before I could ask why, the boy spoke up. "What do you mean Professor? And who are these people really? I mean, they aren't wizards, I got that bit, but they aren't muggles either. And…" he looked at us before adding, "They don't seem to be monsters."

Before I could retort, Professor McGonagall answered him. "James, these people are demigods, children of gods and mortals. They're half-god, half-human, their parents being the Greek and Roman gods themselves."

James' (I assumed that was the boy's name) mouth dropped open. Even the girl seemed shocked. "How do you know all this?" Percy asked, narrowing his eyes.

The Professor smiled. "Chiron was a good friend of Professor Dumbledore's. He confided the existence of your world only with me, and a few other trusted teachers, all of whom are present here. Now, like I said. It would be better to start with names."

Percy spoke first. "I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, God of the seas." He gestured to DJ. "This is my half-sister DJ McEllow. And that-" I cut him off, preferring to do my own introduction.

"I'm Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus, God of Blacksmiths and fire." I would have added some corny joke, but the teachers didn't seem to be ones who'd appreciate that, so I shut up.

The boy stood up, holding out his hand to Percy. "I'm James Sirius Potter, and this is my cousin, Rose Weasely." Percy shook his outstretched hand.

The teachers introduced themselves to be Professors Neville (who had met us first), Flitwick(who was a dwarf), Sprout, Dean(who seemed to be Professor Neville's age, younger than the rest), and Professor Hart.

"Well," Professor McGonaggall said, looking slightly worried, "Now that the names are over, let's get down to the problem at hand."

"What problem?" Percy asked. She smiled sadly in response. "Well, you didn't think Chiron would send you here without a quest, did you?"

~.~.~.~.

**A/N: Sorry about the cliffhanger, and a bigger sorry if the chapter was boring! I'm trying my best to make it interesting, but we need to give them time for the introduction right? *weak smile***

**Please review and tell me what you think of this! It means a lot to me, it really does. Constructive criticism is perfectly welcome! I want to know how I can improve, and you can help with that! Please fell absolutely free to drop a review telling me what you think of the story, the writing, anything! **

**Also, I assigned the Teachers as per what I thought would fit. If you don't agree, I'm absolutely okay with that. Everyone has different choices right? :)**

**Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: OHMYGODS. I crossed a hundred views! I'm so happy! So this chapter is again, the introduction of the quest, they get prepared, et cetera et cetera. The real action will start soon! I promise!**

**ARandomFangirler: First off, I want to thank you for being the first person to review. THANK YOU SO MUCH! And I know, I don't fancy cliffhangers either. But I do like writing them. *grins***

**Matt: Um, I don't really know what to say to that… but thank you for reviewing!**

**lifelong potterhead: Here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy! And I know I'm getting a little repetitive, but thanks for the review!**

Enjoy!

~.~.~.

Leo:

"Excuse me?" Percy narrowed his eyes. "A quest?"

Professor McGonagall nodded. "Yes. A quest. I know for a fact that I'm rushing you, and I deeply apologize. Perhaps a little more insight on the details of the quest would be helpful." She stood up. "You may leave us alone." She told the others teachers, who shuffled out without an argument, shutting the doors behind them. She turned back to us.

"This may come as a shock, but Lord Apollo has been kidnapped."

I choked on the water I was drinking. "_What_?"

She nodded again. "You heard me correctly. He is being held prisoner, rendered powerless by the enemy." She raised her hand, gesturing for silence, as I opened my mouth to speak. "Please let me finish. I'll answer all questions afterwards." I shut my mouth and let her continue.

"As you all know, Apollo slayed Python in order to take over the oracle of Delphi. Python now seeks vengeance. He has kidnapped Apollo, and holds him at the very place where he had defeated Python. Delphi."

I could almost feel the wires in my brain short-circuiting, as I tried to process this information. I held up my hand for time-out. "Woah woah woah. Hang on a minute. I thought you just said Python had been killed by… oh." The realization hit me, and I laughed, shaking my head. "Python came back when Princess Potty Sludge opened the doors of death."

"Princess Potty Sludge? Doors of death? What the heck are you going on about?" James asked.

"Long story." I replied. "Unfortunately, you are correct Mr. Valdez. Python came back from the dead when Gaia opened the doors." Professor McGonagall replied, ignoring James and Rose's confused looks.

"Why can't Apollo just bust out some Sun-godly moves, and burn the rattlesnake to ashes?" I asked her.

"Or maybe recite a haiku. That would definitely kill anything within hearing range." DJ added. The Professor shook her head.

"On his own, Python could have been defeated by Apollo. He had done it before; he could've done it again. However, that is precisely the reason you are having this conversation with me. Python is being assisted by a dark wizard. Before you ask, we don't know who it is, and we don't know their motive. To be able to stop Python from destroying Apollo, our worlds need to collaborate."

"So you want the three of us to go on a quest to destroy Python and this wizard dude." Percy said, looking skeptical. McGonagall shook her head again.

"You will not be able to defeat Python. You need to release Apollo, who stands a chance of defeating Python. However, I think you must have missed my words. I said, to defeat the enemy, our worlds need to _collaborate_. You won't be going alone, on this quest." She looked at James and Rose, whose eyes widened.

"You gotta be kidding me." James muttered. Before he could say more, a lady burst through the doors of the infirmary, and ran up to McGonagall. I was a little taken aback by her appearance. She had wild frizzy hair, with big round framed glasses. Her eyes reminded me of the Goddess Nike, and that's not a good thing. They were wide, almost as if she was scared, shocked and surprised all at once.

"You called for me?" She asked the Professor, who smiled.

"Ah, yes Sybil. I was rather hoping that maybe you could tell us the fate of the quest these children are about to go on."

"Hold up." James cut in, "You're saying you want us to go on a quest with these demigods, and _she_ will tell the fate of it?" he looked at the lady with distaste, but his gaze faltered under the look McGonagall was giving him.

"Yes James. Do you have a problem with that?"

He weakly shook his head. I looked at Rose, only to find her glaring daggers at me. I didn't know what that was for, so I ignored it. Maybe she just didn't like extremely good-looking Spanish guys. Not my problem.

Suddenly the weird lady grabbed Percy's shoulders, startling him to say the least. Her eyes glazed over, as if she'd gone into a trance. She started speaking, but her voice came out weird, like it was reverberating around the room.

"_Two worlds face a common foe_

_To the home of divination the warriors must go_

_New friends be found; they join the fight_

_The two-faced God's directions show the light_

_One will be lost after suffering through pain_

_On the peak of winter rises the lost god's bane._

_United enemies play their hand_

_The hero will be saved by another's final stand_."

The room was tossed into silence, as we thought about what the lady had just said. Finally DJ spoke.

"That prophecy don't sound too cheerful."

I nodded my approval. "What does it even mean?"

The Professor answered my question. She turned to the weird lady, who looked very disoriented. "I think your job here is done Sybil. You may leave." The lady stumbled out of the room, and the Professor turned to us.

"The lost god's bane must be Python, the lost god being Apollo himself. The peak of winter signifies the Winter solstice, the longest night. And also the shortest day. It will be when Apollo is at his weakest. Chiron and I have discussed this quest before, and we thought Python would try and destroy Apollo on the winter solstice. The prophecy confirmed it."

"What about the two-faced God? Does that mean Janus?" Percy asked.

The professor nodded. "Yes, it does. Python holds Apollo at the Temple of Delphi; at least, that's what we think. That's the most logical guess. But how to get there; only Janus knows. You will have to travel to him, and ask for directions."

"Okay, that part is clear. United enemies must mean Python and the wizard dude. And the two worlds; our world and yours, have to come together to stop them." Percy summed up.

I held up my hand. "I think the one-being-lost-to-pain-and-suffering-and-the-other's-final-stand bit would be the attention grabber. It sounds to me as though not all of us will come back alive."

The Professor looked sad.

"Will you accept the quest?"

Percy stood up. "I speak for all of us. We'll go."

James and Rose didn't look too hyped, but they stood up as well. "We'll go too. Though I must say, the part of the final stand doesn't excite me at all." James said. Rose nodded to back up her brother.

"When do we leave?"Rose asked, looking slightly scared, but clearly trying to hide it (failing to do so). I could understand why. This must've been their first quest, and the time I had been on _my_ first quest, I had almost wet my pants.

"Like I said. Time is not a luxury we have. You must leave tonight."

~.~.~.~.

**A/N: Again, I'm sorry if it was boring, but the quest starts from the next chapter. Please review and tell me what you think of my story! Every single review motivates me to go on! *happy smile***


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey y'all! I realized its way better to read a story which has many chapters to begin with, so I'll try updating as fast as I can. I know the last chapter was boring, so if you're reading this, a big thank you for doing so. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**~.~.~.**

Leo:

I cut in. "Um, Professor, with due respect, I'm all up for pain and suffering. I mean, we pretty much base our lives on pain and suffering. But could we at least _eat _before going on a life-endangering quest? My body doesn't like battling monsters on an empty stomach."

The Professor nodded. "Right you are Mr. Valdez. Your food will be brought here, seeing Ms. McEllow's state. After you finish your meal, please come meet me in my office before setting off. There are a few things we need to discuss." With that, she waved her hand, and a table appeared in front of us.

"Enjoy." She said, before walking out the door. The table was instantly decorated with food, enough to stuff all five of us to the brim. Percy helped DJ off the bed, and all of us took our places at the table, chairs having also appeared. Percy and DJ didn't wait. They grabbed whatever they got their hands on, and started wolfing the food down.

I was no different. I had finished an entire pizza, by the time it took James to finish half his pasta. Rose looked at me with distaste.

"That's disgusting." She commented. I tried to talk with my mouth full, then thought the better of it. I didn't know what problem this girl had with me, but I didn't want to worry about it just then. The food was delicious.

"I've read about Greek and Roman gods. Don't their children have like, special powers or something?" James asked us. Percy shrugged. "I control water." He said casually.

"And can rig up butt-kicking storms." DJ added. James looked at Percy with wide eyes.

"I can create fire." I said. I held up my palm, and made it burst into flames. James looked ready to pass out of awe. Rose just glared at me. I made the flames die down, and James turned to DJ. "What can you do?"

"I can manipulate the four elements." She said it as though it was no big deal. James looked confused.

"Hang on, I thought you said you were his half-sister." He said, pointing at Percy, "So shouldn't the two of you have the same powers?" DJ nodded. "Technically, yeah. But my ancestors were… well, weird. They had power over the four elements. It got passed down, I guess." She took another bite of her sandwich.

James whistled. "Woah. That means you're really powerful, aren't you?" he asked.

DJ shook her head. "Nope. Having powers isn't enough. Using them is totally different. I'm useless in battle."

James started to say something, but Percy cut him off. "Don't. She never accepts a compliment. Too damn modest for that." DJ grinned innocently, and we returned to silently eating our food.

I took the time of eating to get a proper look at the two wizards. James was tall, with messy brown hair and dark brown eyes. He had a lopsided grin on his face, which immediately told me he was of a prankster kind. Maybe the two of us would get along after all.

Rose was completely different. She had long red hair, which she kept tied in a braid. Her blue eyes were startling yet intelligent. She reminded me a lot of Annabeth, with that intelligence in her eyes. She would have been pretty, but a scar which ran from the outside corner of her right eye down to her cheekbone gave her an intimidating appearance.

She got up, just as I finished eating. "C'mon. Professor McGonagall said she wanted to see us. When you're ready." She looked pointedly at me. I was getting tired of her sudden hatred towards me, even though I didn't recall doing anything to offend her.

"Hey lady, is there a problem?" I asked her, raising my eyebrows. She gave me another glare before replying.

"Nothing." She leaned on the table, so that she was eye-level with me. "Just know that I would rather go on a quest with a Blast-ended Skrewt, than with _you_." She stood up, and started walking out of the infirmary.

The rest of us followed her, including DJ, who insisted that she felt perfectly fine. James, who walked beside me, whispered "That's not a compliment." I scoffed. "Yeah, I think I got that bit."

We reached the headmistress' office. A stone statue greeted us, and Rose said "Albus Dumbledore."

The statue swung around to reveal a staircase. We ascended, and found the Professor at her place, waiting for us.

"Yes, come." She said. "Before you set off on your quest, I would like to inform you of Janus' whereabouts." She paused, drawing in a breath. "He's in a cave in the Copper Canyon in Chihuahua. However, a word of warning. His lair is guarded by a fierce monster, one that won't be easy to defeat."

DJ rolled her eyes. "Of course it is. I don't suppose you could tell us _which_ monster, or how to defeat it?"

The Professor shook her head sadly. She turned to me. "Mr. Valdez, I would not advise bringing Festus. Janus' path may not be feasible for him."

I didn't bother asking how she knew about Festus. My face fell. I had been counting on my dragon, maybe would have shown him off in front of these people. "How're we gonna get there then?"

"Oh I leave that bit to you. Now off you go, the fate of the world is on your shoulders!"

~.~.~.~.

James:

We were back in the dark forest.

We trudged deeper; Percy said their rides would be here. They'd talked highly of these rides of theirs, and I had mentally laughed. As if anything could compete with our broomsticks.

As we walked, I took a good look at the demigods, something I hadn't been able to do in all the havoc of the past few hours. I usually didn't pay attention to how guys looked (I suppose that came from being a guy myself) but even I couldn't miss the fact that Percy would make most girls in our school swoon, with those sea green eyes and wind-swept black hair. He was tall and lean; slim, but with a toned physique. Leo was also tall, but skinny. He had elfish features; arched eyebrows, pointy ears, and a mischievous smile. His curly hair fell into his eyes, and his hands were constantly moving, as though he had drunk one too many glasses of coffee.

DJ looked a lot like Percy. Tall, athletic, slim; she shared her brother's green eyes and black hair. Her hair was cut pixie-style, and fell as bangs on her forehead. She was cute, in a tomboyish, annoying little sister way.

"Well then. Y'all ready?" Percy looked at us. I nodded. We had packed up well, and were now hoisting backpacks on our backs. "We just need one more thing." I told him, and lifted my wand. "_Accio_ broom!"

Rose did the same, and within seconds, two broomsticks came flying towards us from the castle. They stopped in front of us, and I ran my hand over the handle, smirking at the demigods. My broom was completely black, with supports for feet.

Rose was also smirking at them, as she mounted her broom. She patted the handle. "The JetStrike two point oh." She said, "Moves like a dream. Handle's covered in pure leather. Almost unbreakable wood."

"And you haven't even seen this baby." I told them, beckoning towards my own broomstick, "The Firebolt two thousand and one. Fastest broom there is. We're fair riders, the two of us, and these compliment our flying very nicely indeed."

They nodded, looking at our brooms in awe. Then they caught themselves, and smiled.

"That's a neat thing you got there bro. But it's best if you didn't challenge us on the matter of rides." DJ said, and did a taxicab whistle.

It seemed like only a moment had passed, before dark shapes began to descend from the sky. They were too large to be birds, and I was fairly sure planes didn't flap their wings. They landed a few feet from us, and I caught my breath.

They were pegasi.

"Oh my…" Rose said. She seemed as shocked as I felt. These things were the most beautiful things I had seen till now, which was saying a lot.

"Meet Blackjack." Percy said, as he mounted the first Pegasus. Blackjack was completely black, as the name suggested, and had dark blue eyes. Each of his wings were twice the size of my broom, and he spread them majestically.

"And this," DJ said, mounting the second, "is Brisingr. The name means Fire. Read it in a book somewhere. He's the youngest Pegasus we have, but one of the fastest. He's Blackjack's younger brother." She patted his mane. Brisingr, like Blackjack, was completely black, except for two red streaks running down either side of his neck, ending when they reached his body. The streaks gave him a fiery look, and I supposed that was how he'd gotten his name. I could feel my mouth hanging open, and DJ laughed. "Y'all should see your faces." I quickly closed my mouth. And I had thought that their rides couldn't compete with ours. Our brooms looked awfully small compared to the pegasi, but I hoped they weren't slower.

Leo got onto Brisingr behind DJ, looking a little dejected. I mounted my broom, and looked at Percy.

"Ready?" I asked.

He nodded. The two of them spurred their pegasi into flight, as Rose and I lifted off the ground on our brooms.

Percy looked ahead, his eyes set on the night sky. "Copper Canyon, here we come."

~.~.~.~.

**A/N: once again, a big sorry if this chapter was boring, but I promise, the next one will have action. The finally started their quest! And yes, I have taken Brisingr's name from The Inheritance series, like mentioned in the chapter. The name belongs to Christopher Paolini! (Had to put that out there. Just in case) **

**Please review and tell me what you think of my story, and how I can improve it. All reviews are perfectly welcome!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hola! So, I thought maybe I should buck up and get started on the action, 'cause the story might have been boring so far. Also, I CROSSED TWO HUNDRED VIEWS HOLY MOTHER OF GAIA! If you're reading this, you have contributed immensely to my happiness. GAH, I'M SO HAPPY THIS DOESN'T MAKE MUCH SENSE.**

**lifelong potterhead: Thank you for the compliment! And thank you again for bringing that up… I'll make some changes to the story… probably in the later chapters… **

**HELLO-A: thank you for reviewing! Also, I decided that more Greek monsters will attack, 'cause that reservoir is HUGE. So… yup.**

~.~.~.~.

James:

"WELCOME TO CHIHUAHUA!" I woke up startled, and almost fell off my broom. Howls of laughter went up from DJ and Leo. I'd put a charm on myself to keep me from falling off. It didn't seem to work against crazy teammates. Percy seemed to share my state, for even he was half off Blackjack's back. Rose shook her head and smiled.

"We're here?" I asked. "Well, duh. What do you think our wake-up alarm was for?" Percy replied, adding a glare towards his sister.

I looked ahead and gasped. Copper canyon spread out below us, and beautiful was understating things. It stretched on for miles, large structures of rocks, jutting out in every direction. A deep valley cut through the centre, and the mountains rose on either side of it. Percy pointed to a small opening in a mountain.

"There. Blackjack says he feels weird monster vibes coming from that place."

I turned my broom towards the opening. We landed just outside it. I left my broom fastened to a belt on Brisingr; Rose doing the same with Blackjack.

We entered the cave, and I caught my breath. The entrance had opened up to a huge cavern, much bigger than I expected. It was at least half the size of a football field, and somewhere in the centre, a faint light was glowing. We walked to it.

"This cave ceiling is very unstable guys. It could collapse any moment. We need to find Janus fast, and get the heck out of here." DJ said, looking up.

I nodded, and turned my attention back to the symbol. It seemed to be a triangle of sorts, about the size of my thumb, embedded on the wall. It glowed a brilliant blue.

"That's a delta isn't it?" I asked Percy, who nodded. He had walked a little further, and his eyes fixed on something, his expression morphing into one of horror.

"Uh, guys? We have a serious problem." He said, slowly backing away. "At the back, there are two cages, and each holds a Chimera."

"Oh no, not a Chimera! Anything but a Chimera!" Leo exclaimed dramatically, "Also, what the heck is a Chimera?"

"It's a sort of Hybrid Monster. It has the head of a lion, snake and goat. The main head is that of a lion. The snake head is the tail, and a goat's head sprouts from its back. It's nearly impossible to defeat." Rose replied. All our eyes turned to her, and she blushed. "I like reading about Greek mythology."

"This thing looks really weird…" Leo said, moving his finger towards the symbol, as though he was going to touch it.

"Don't touch that." Rose's voice was full of warning. Leo did the exact thing I expected him to do.

He touched it.

"What?" He said, looking innocently at Rose, who glared daggers at him, "You knew I was gonna…"

"BACK OFF!" Percy yelled.

I turned around, and to my horror, saw that the cage doors had opened, and the Chimeras were now free. They looked exactly like Rose had described them to be.

But that wasn't the end of our problems. The cave ceiling began to rumble. I looked up, and saw that the 'very unstable ceiling' was now coming apart. I didn't even have time to cry out, before the entire ceiling collapsed.

~.~.~.~.

Leo:

I expected to be flattened. Strangely, it didn't happen. I opened my eyes, and saw all the rocks hovering in mid-air. I looked towards the entrance of the cave, and saw the reason.

Not more than three feet away from us, DJ was kneeling on the ground, poised up on one knee. Her hands were outstretched at her sides, her head bowed down. In a flash I understood what had happened. DJ controlled the rocks, and made them float in the air. But I knew she couldn't do this for very long. There had to be at least a hundred tones of rocks above us, and their distance from the ground was only enough so that we could stand. Even so, Percy had to hunch slightly.

My attention turned back to the Chimeras.

"Take that one! We'll take this!" Percy ordered James and Rose, who immediately ran towards the Chimera on the left. He looked at me, and nodded. I knew what to do. Once again, my arms caught fire, and I ran in front of the Chimera screaming "Here kitty kitty kitty! Here ya little…" I threw some unflattering words around, as Percy got to work.

He slashed Riptide across the tail, successfully severing the Snake-head. He jumped on top, and sliced off the goat head too. All that remained was the head of the Lion, and that wouldn't be easy. The Chimera swiped at Percy with its claw, and shook its body, throwing Percy off. He landed somewhere to my left. I pulled a hammer out of my told belt, and decided to finish the job.

I jumped on its back, and held on tightly. I smashed the hammer on its head, alternately burning it with columns of fire. Disoriented, the Chimera had its full attention on trying to stop me from bashing its head in. It didn't notice Percy slowly approaching it, Riptide ready in his hands. I slammed the hammer down with all my strength, and the Chimera collapsed. "NOW!" I yelled to Percy.

He swung his sword at the Lion's head, and the Chimera exploded into dust. At the same time, Rose yelled "DIFFINDO!" and their Chimera exploded as well.

~.~.~.

James:

The Chimera was like nothing I'd ever faced before. Of course, I didn't spend my waking hours battling ancient Greek monsters every day, so that wasn't really saying a lot. But even then, the Chimera was so terrifying, it was a miracle that I didn't pass out.

"Take the right side!" Rose yelled at me. I did as she was told, and the lion head focused its attention on me. "Incendio!" I yelled, my voice timid. The lion's head burst into flames, but it didn't seem to do much damage. "Reducto!" Rose aimed her spell at the snake's head, and it disintegrated, leaving us two monster heads to deal with. I tried the same spell on the lion, but it didn't affect it. Apparently the other two heads were stronger than the snake, because our curses bounced harmlessly off.

"Take my knife!" DJ managed to scream over from where she was. I ran to her, leaving Rose the responsibility of distracting the Chimera until I returned. I didn't know how DJ was managing to hold up that tremendous amount of rock, but it didn't matter now. I took out her dagger from her armband, and rushed back to the Chimera.

Fortunately Rose was doing a good job of distracting it. "Aguamenti!" she shot a jet of water towards the lion's face, which seemed to annoy it even more. The goat head was being dragged around, unsure of what to do. I saw my chance and tip-toed up to the Chimera from its back. I waited until it was slightly steady, and caught Rose's eye. I had to do it now.

I yelled in defiance and slashed the dagger across the head of the goat, severing it from the body. I then fell to my knees, and drove the knife through the underbelly of the beast. I let it go and scooted back, letting Rose finish the job. She aimed her wand at the lion's head, which was weakened from the attack, and screamed "DIFFINDO!"

The Chimera disintegrated, and I looked to the side, delighted to see that Percy and Leo had taken care of the other one.

"Get… out…" DJ croaked over. She was almost unrecognizable from strain; her face red, and her forehead beady with perspiration. She was bending lower too, and with her, the ceiling dropped lower as well.

"Guys! Over here!" Rose yelled from the back of the cave. A tunnel of sorts had appeared, leading away from the cave, to the interiors of the rock. "It opens into a dark cavern! That must be where we'll find Janus!" She continued.

The three of us exchanged doubtful glances. The dark tunnel didn't seem like much of an escape route, but it was better than a collapsing tunnel any day. DJ couldn't sustain the ceiling for much longer; I knew that just by looking at her face.

"Let's go." Percy said. I followed him into the tunnel, Leo directly behind us.

"DJ, I'm going to need you to slowly make your way to this tunnel. Can you do that?" Rose said, her voice soft yet commanding. DJ nodded, and started crawling towards us on her knees, her hands still outstretched. The ground of the cave shook, and I knew that even the floor was unstable. The entire cavern was being held together by DJ's willpower, and I still didn't see how she could do that without her mind snapping. But our luck must've decided we needed extra challenges.

For DJ was not more than a meter away, when from the entrance, the cave ceiling began to fall down, rocks raining on the ground from above. DJ didn't look back. She jumped towards us. Leo and I caught her arms, and yanked her in, but we were a fraction of a second too late.

A huge boulder fell on top of her, flattening her on the ground.

~.~.~.~.~.

**A/N: Please review and tell me what you think of the chapter! Also, please tell me if the action is not up to the mark, and I will try my best to improve it. I'm really sorry if this chapter wasn't good. Please review! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey! I'm back! I'm really sorry if the previous chapter was bad… I hope this one's better!**

**Matt: Um, if that's your opinion, I respect it! But I assure you, Rose has a way for acting the way she is. :)**

**Guest: Thank you bluej compoopter! I hope you enjoy the rest of the story too! ;)**

**Enjoy!**

~.~.~.~.

"DJ!" Percy cried. Leo and I yanked DJ out from under the boulder before more could fall on top. We pulled her inside the tunnel, just as the entrance was blocked by a shower of rocks.

"Great. Now we'll definitely be able to get out." Leo grumbled. Rose rounded on him, angrier than I had seen her in quite a while. "And whose fault is that?" She yelled, "Gee, let me think. Who touched that symbol which BASICALLY LED TO ALL OF THIS?"

Leo stood up, so that he stood face to face with Rose. "Lady, what the heck is your problem with me, huh?" "Oh, I don't know, maybe it's your utter lack of sense of responsibility!" Rose replied. She was shorter than Leo, but she stood on her tip-toes to emphasize her point.

"SHUT UP!" Percy yelled at the two of them. "DJ's dying, and you guys are fighting like kids!" I understood his point. Leo looked sorry, but Rose continued to glare at him. He fished out a square of those things these demigods ate from his pocket, and fed it to DJ, who was knocked out cold. I looked at her and flinched. Her state was bad; I could tell that in a glance. Her head was bleeding from a wound, and countless more were all over her body, oozing blood. She wasn't dead; thank all stars, simply knocked out.

The ambrosia made a little color return to her face, but didn't seem to have much effect. Percy let out a frustrated sound. "What's the point of these things if they don't even work?"

"Oh, I don't think ambrosia and nectar will work on that." A new voice said from behind us. I whipped my head around, and saw a man standing there. He'd just appeared from nowhere, for there couldn't possibly be an entrance in this small cave. He walked up to us and knelt beside DJ. "Oh, dear, that's bad."

"Who the heck are you?" Percy narrowed his eyes at the man. He was in his forties, with short brown hair, and wore simple yet formal clothes. He seemed mildly confused. "My boy, you come looking into my lair for me, and when I come in front of you, you ask me who I am?"

"You can't be Janus!" Percy said, "Janus has two heads and looks like a weirdo. You have one head and look kinda normal." I half expected Janus to blow Percy to bits, but getting insulted by demigods must have been regular for gods, because he said nothing.

He ran a finger over DJ's head wound, and it disappeared, leaving only a faint cut. He held his hand over her face, a warm glow emitting from it. Immediately, DJ's cuts vanished, and the blood cleared off. She gasped and opened her green eyes. She sat up and looked around, seeming slightly disappointed. "Man, I thought Elysium would be better than this rat hole." She said.

"DJ, you utter…" Percy pulled her into a hug, laughing. He pulled away and looked at Janus. "Thank you."

"Lord Janus, I'm not sure if you know why we're here-" Rose started, but Janus cut her off. "Oh, I know why you're here. You seek the path to the temple of Delphi." He stood up. "Come this way."

He walked off deeper into the tunnel, and we stood up. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I can't wait to get out of this stinky poopy tunnel." DJ said, and followed Janus. The rest of us, seeing no other option, followed them.

Janus led us to a large cavern. It was small compared to the one we'd been in previously, but large all the same. He turned around and smiled. "Yes. So you want me to give you the directions to the temple eh?"

"Yes, that would be nice." Leo said. Janus nodded. "I can give you the path, but be warned. It is not easy." DJ snorted. "Course it isn't."

"You see, the temple of Delphi is no ordinary temple. Primordial beings can access it as they want, but only the worthiest of demigods can go there. And that too only by following a path made by me. I call it," He paused dramatically, "The path of warriors."

"That," DJ said, "Is one heck of a name." Janus nodded, not catching the obvious sarcasm. "This path consists of three portals, which could be anywhere in the world. To reach the temple, you need to cross each of these three. Each portal tests you for a certain quality. Prove that you posses that quality, and you will be able to cross the portal. Fail to do so, and the portal will tear you to shreds." Janus concluded.

"Yep. Getting torn to shreds. Definitely on my to-do list." Leo said. Janus pretended not to hear him. "Why can't we just take the third portal and end up at the temple?" I asked. Janus shook his head.

"First off, you don't know where it is. When you cross this door, it will land you in the city of the first portal. Find the portal, cross the test, and it will land you in the city of the second. The same will happen, and you'll be in the city of the third. Cross the third, you will find yourselves in the temple."

I looked behind him, and sure enough, a door had appeared. It seemed to me made of wood of a crimson color. It had a brass handle. I didn't know how it had just _appeared_ out of nowhere, but I supposed it was Janus' doing.

Janus cleared his throat. "Also, the third will not open at all, if you haven't crossed the first and second."

"Hang on." Rose said, "How the bloody hell are we supposed to find the portal? You said we'd end up in the city. But how will we locate it?"

Janus smiled. He dug something out of a pocket, and handed it to Rose, who examined it. "A compass?" she looked back at Janus.

"Yes, a compass. The compass will show you the direction to the portal. When you get within five hundred meters, the compass will start glowing. I suspect you can find your way from there." Janus answered her.

He looked at Percy. "To answer your first question Percy, I only appear with two faces when I'm offering a choice. Now, however, I'm simply helping you." "Why?" Percy asked, "Why are you helping us? What do you gain from this?"

Janus looked down, and I could've sworn he looked guilty. "I helped the Titans in the last war." He said simply. Percy nodded, like he understood everything. "Ahhh, so this is your attempt at redeeming yourself." He declared. Janus nodded. "I realized my mistake Percy. This is indeed my redemption." He paused, and smiled. "Plus you've gotten rid of those Chimeras outside. Dreadful business, nasty thing those were, always shrieking, giving me a headache. I definitely need to help you in return of _that._"

"Right. So to sum things up, we go through this door, and end up in the city which has the first portal. We find that, pass the test, and end up in the city of the second. Find _that,_ pass the test, and end up in the city of the third. Again, find it, pass the test, and we're in the temple of Delphi." DJ said.

Janus nodded. "You'll find your pegasi waiting for you when you cross this door." We stepped towards the door behind him.

"May the gods be with you." Janus called from behind us. The four of us looked at each other, unsure of where this would take us. Percy opened the door, revealing nothing but darkness. "Don't worry. You'll be in the correct place when you cross this. Take my word for it." Janus said, sensing our discomfort.

We each took a deep breath and stepped through.

~.~.~.~.

**A/N: So that's the intro of the quest y'all! Sorry if this was boring, but I'll try to make the next one better! Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hola mi amigos! So, I'm sorry if the last chapter was boring, but I'll try and make this chapter better! Happy reading! Also, a part of this chapter will be in the third person's POV, 'cause I thought it would make more sense that way. So… yep. And I changed something in the previous chapter. Basically, the compass will glow when they're five hundred meters away from the portal, not one hundred. Yep.**

**Lifelong potterhead: Thank you! Also, I agree that Janus was helpful, but after defeating two vicious Chimeras and DJ almost dying while trying to hold up a collapsing cavern, I thought maybe Janus giving them **_**another**_** test would be a tad dramatic.**

**aviendhaphiragon: YES! I really liked that name for DJ's Pegasus. And I'm so glad you liked it too!**

**Enjoy!**

~.~.~.~.

James:

We'd been flying for a while now. The city of San Salvador spread out below us. Even when I was this high up in the sky, I could tell it was a beautiful city. I couldn't make out specific details though.

We'd come through the door to find ourselves atop a hill, the Pegasi waiting patiently, with our brooms strapped to their saddles. We'd set off immediately, following Rose's compass. I only knew the name of the city because we'd descended once to grab a few bottles of water. The shopkeeper had given us weird looks, but I supposed five sweaty, dirty and smelly kids could be classified as 'weird'.

I'd lost track of my surroundings. We were pretty high up, and the air here was thinner. I had slight trouble breathing, but I was fine with this. It was better than flying lower and scaring unsuspecting pedestrians.

"We've been flying for hours!" DJ complained. Leo was holding Brisingr's reigns now, and DJ looked bored out of her mind. "Patience my little sister. I for one, am in no hurry at all. When we reach, I doubt we'll be greeted with chocolate brownies and tea." Leo called back. The roar of the wind made it a little difficult to hear, but I thought DJ might have mumbled something about stupid quests and stupid snakes.

Suddenly a huge blast of wind smashed right into us, sending Rose barreling into Brisingr. Her broom got jammed in his saddle, and she started to slip off. She cried out for help, and Leo caught her arm, barely managing to keep himself on top of Brisingr.

Percy was thrown off Blackjack, but the Pegasus swooped below and caught him again. I held onto the handle of my Firebolt for dear life. The wind was getting stronger by the instant. It seemed to be a hurricane, but how could there be hurricanes at such a great height?

Suddenly the wind started spinning wildly around us, and I lost control of my broom. I fell off the handle, plummeting downwards. The ground was coming closer at an alarming speed. I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact, but it never came.

I stopped a few meters above a huge tree. I was hovering in mid-air. I looked up, and saw my friends still trapped in the hurricane, which seemed to float off the ground. I barely felt any wind over here, which meant there was something unnatural about that wind. My eyes focused on DJ, and I could see that she had her hand thrust out in my direction. She was controlling the wind, breaking my fall. Suddenly another blast of wind blew Brisingr out of control, and DJ's focus broke. I fell into the tree, but the impact hadn't been so hard. I crashed into a few branches before falling to the ground.

To my left, Blackjack landed with Percy hugging his neck. The Pegasus must have helped get Percy out of the hurricane, but Brisingr was still stuck in the air, being tossed around by the wind. I could understand why. He was bearing the weight of three people, and it must have not been easy to do that.

Percy let go of Blackjack, who flew up, stopping just below the hurricane. Leo got the message. He dropped Rose. She screamed as she fell, but Blackjack caught her on his back, bringing her safely down. With the burden lessened, it wasn't difficult for Brisingr to escape from the hurricane, and within minutes, he had touched ground as well.

"What the HELL was that?" DJ demanded. Rose rubbed her arm where Leo had grabbed her. I could already see the bruise, but granted the fact that Leo had saved her life by grabbing her arm, I didn't say anything.

"Ouch." Rose muttered, glaring at Leo. He laughed. "Seriously?" He said, shaking his head, "You're seriously going to glare at me even after I saved your life?"

"I didn't need your help." Rose shot back. Leo rolled his eyes. "No, of course not. I'm extremely sorry for not letting you fall to your death. I'll take care next time."

"Guys, relax. You two look like you're about to bash each other's brains out." DJ laughed. Something fell out from the tree, and knocked me over my head. "OW!" I exclaimed, but when I looked at the thing, I forgot all about my pain.

"My broom!" I held it up. It was half of my broom, the other half being god-knows-where. It had apparently fallen into the tree after me, and had snapped in half. Rose didn't give me time for grief though.

"Guys look!" She brought out the compass from her pocket. It was glowing with a red light, which encased its round form in a strange hue. She looked up at us. "Five hundred meters left for-"

She was cut off by a shrill scream.

~.~.~.~.

Third Person POV:

James whipped his head around in the direction of the scream. Percy uncapped Riptide and held up his hand in a '_quiet' _sign. James got to his feet, and the five slowly walked towards the source of the scream. They waded through trees, and found themselves in a vast clearing. Rose gasped.

The clearing was filled with no less than three hundred monsters. They ducked behind a massive boulder to avoid being seen, and peeked over the top. The whole scene was in front of them. The monsters clustered in a group to their left, and to their right, a hooded figure leaned over a rock slab. On the rock slab lay the figure of what was most probably a human girl judging by her high-pitched screams. Percy motioned at the others to follow him, as they sunk away from the clearing, back into the trees.

"What's going on? We have to help her!" DJ protested, once they were out of ear-shot. Percy nodded. "Yes, we do."

"But Percy, we can't just charge in without a plan, that'll be suicide! We need a properly formulated plan." Rose commented. Percy nodded again.

"We run in, we save the girl, and we kick some monster butt. How's that for a plan?" He said. Rose rolled her eyes. "Percy, I'm serious."

"No you're not, you're Rose." Leo cut in. DJ and James were trying hard not to laugh. "You're infuriating!" Rose whisper-yelled at Leo. Leo shook his head. "No I'm not, I'm Leo!"

"Alright, enough." Percy interrupted them, which was just as well, for Rose looked like she was about to bite Leo's head off. She shook her head and turned to Percy.

"Percy, I saw monsters not only from your world, but also from ours. Inferi and werewolves were among the few. If we're going to attack, it needs to be with a plan."

"Fine." Percy said. "Rose, you take care of the monsters form your world. Take the broom, attack them from above. James you get the girl." James turned red, and Percy realized what his words had sounded like. "I mean, go help her. Leo, DJ, you two come with me. We'll take out the rest of the gang and cause a distraction for James."

"Would you like a drink and some French fries with that order sir?" DJ said sarcastically. Percy pretended not to hear her.

"Alright y'all." He held up Riptide and Rose grabbed her broom. "Let's GO!"

The five demigods crashed into the clearing, startling the monsters. Each of them immediately got to work, following their respective assignments.

Rose aimed her spells at the werewolves and Inferi. She shouted every single offensive spell he knew.

"DIFFINDO! INCENDIO! REDUCTO! LEVICORPUS!" her spells killed off her enemies left and right, and soon, there were not many remaining. But the other monsters were still remaining. She hit them next.

Percy, DJ and Leo fought as one. Leo's hands glowed white hot with flames. He grabbed the monsters, melting their armor, leaving the bare flesh exposed for DJ and Percy to strike on. Monsters overwhelmed them, but Percy slashed through the ranks left and right. Leo shot columns of flames at monsters, melting them into puddles of monster goo.

DJ had a dagger in one arm and Lancer in the other. The sword cut through heads like they were made of butter. The three of them were on autopilot, barely thinking about their moves. Slash, cut, deflect, and stab. Rose looked down at them in awe. Now, of course, she'd never seen teenagers battling Greek monsters, but these three were impressive. Even Leo, though she would never say that out loud. The hooded figure, originally shocked into silence by the sudden attack, started to get himself together. He seemed humanoid, but it was hard to tell because of the cloak.

James had started untying the ropes that held the girl to the stone slab. The figure started lumbering over to them, but Rose landed in front of him. "I don't think so!" she knocked the wind out of him with a well-placed kick.

"Aw, right in the _bifurcum!_" Leo laughed as he fought a dracaena with a hammer.

"What the hell does that mean?" James asked, barely looking up from the immense knot that he was untying. "You don't wanna know!" DJ called from where she was currently in the process of maiming a hellhound. The monsters army was weakened. Rose could barely believe her eyes. Out of three hundred, barely twenty remained. Percy was going sword on club with a giant. _Lastrygonian giant,_ thought Rose. She'd read about them.

No one noticed the hooded figure. DJ was rapidly trying to avoid icy blasts from a blue giant, and Leo was pinned under a hellhound, trying to free himself. James was desperately trying to cut through the ropes with a sharp rock he'd picked up.

The figure got up, and dropped his cloak. He looked like a regular man, but Rose knew there was something wrong. Percy had his back to him, and for some reason, Rose knew he was in terrible danger.

From somewhere behind the man, as if he'd had an invisible missile launcher, large spikes flew at Percy, who was completely oblivious to the development. He slashed his sword across the giant, and it disintegrated. Percy stepped back as the spikes flew towards him. Rose cried out and ran to him, pushing him out of the way, but she was too late. Five spikes embedded themselves in Percy's back.

He collapsed face-first onto the ground. DJ had her knife buried in the man's leg, which momentarily put him out of action. DJ and Leo had defeated their monsters, and James had somehow gotten the girl free. All three of them ran up to where Percy lay, Rose kneeling beside him. A sixth spike had grazed Rose's waist as she pushed Percy out of the way, and pain coursed through her body. The spikes had been poisoned, and she couldn't even imagine what Percy was going through with five of them in his back. He retched, coughing up blood. "Oh my gosh…" James muttered. The girl was leaning against a log. A black bag was wrapped around her head, but no one was bothered about her for now.

"Try the ambrosia!" Leo commanded James. A groan escaped the man who had hit Percy. DJ looked at him, her eyes shining with pure hatred. "You." She snarled.

She got up, and stood four feet in front of the man, who was trying to get himself up. "I recognize you." DJ said, her voice dripping with venomous anger. "Dr. Thorn isn't it? The Manticore we met when we recruited Bianca and Nico. Oh yes, I remember you."

Percy coughed again. He was in terrible pain, and it physically hurt to see him. DJ glanced towards him, then turned back towards the monster. "You… hurt… my brother." She spoke through clenched teeth. A smile formed on her lips, but it was far from happy. It was evil, bordering on manic. "That's a lot of water in your body. Let's see what we can do with that eh?"

She held out her hand towards him, and the man's expression turned to one of horror and pain. He cried out.

Sharp spikes started coming out of his body. Coated with blood, they were appearing from everywhere. His stomach, his torso, and even his neck. Rose resisted the urge of throwing up. She had never seen something so utterly gruesome before. Leo and James were staring at DJ wide-eyed. The manticore was in so much pain; he couldn't even scream. DJ had never felt so much anger, and that anger had fueled her. She didn't care how grotesque it was, what she was doing. All she wanted was to bring to the monster the exact pain which he had inflicted on Percy.

DJ's expression was scary. She looked mad, even ferocious, and a little crazy. Her glare could've burned a hole through the monster. Her friends didn't know what she was doing, but she knew perfectly well. There had been a lot of water inside the Manticore's body, water in every single one of his cells. DJ was freezing that water into icicles, and then making them come out of his body, skewering him from inside. A huge one pushed its way through his face.

"Let's hope you've learnt your lesson_. No one_ hurts my brother." DJ looked terrifying, but she didn't care. This monster had hurt her brother, and he deserved to be punished. She closed her fist, and all the icicles rushed back into his body, and he erupted in a shower of monster dust.

DJ ran back to where Percy lay. "What happened? Isn't ambrosia working?" She asked, ignoring her friends' terrified expressions. "It's healing the wound, but the poison's in his system." Rose replied.

"DJ, this is something only Apollo's kids back at camp can manage. We need to get Percy back to camp." Leo said in a low voice. DJ nodded. "Maybe we could have Blackjack carry him?" She suggested. Rose shook her head. "That would be too slow. From the amount of poison I'd say Percy has little over an hour left."

"THERE'S GOT TO BE A WAY!" DJ yelled. Leo and she looked deep in thought. Suddenly their eyes widened, and they looked at each other, as though they'd had the same thought. They spoke in unison.

"Nico."

**A/N: I'm sorry if this update was late. I'll be updating every two-three days, so, yep. Please review!**

**Also, there's a poll going on on my profile. So anyone who likes heroes of olympus, and is interested, please go and vote! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: HEY! OHMYGOSH I CROSSED 500 VIEWS! AND DOUBLE DIGIT NUMBER OF REVIEWS! I was so happy, I literally yelled like a maniac when I saw that. Thank you all so much for reading this, it makes me really happy, and every single review motivates me to post a new chapter! I am so sorry for the late update, and also for the long boring chapter. This is just sort of a filler, and I apologize for having no action. I promise to try and write better from next time! I also apologize for making y'all wait so long. **

**lifelong pottterhead: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! Your reviews seriously made me happy! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well, even if it is just a filler.**

**Enjoy!**

**~.~.~.**

James:

"Nico." DJ and Leo said together. Leo turned to Rose and me. "Can you guys make water from those wands?" he asked.

Rose nodded. She must've been really worried for Percy, because she didn't even argue with Leo, which, for her, was a first. "Great." DJ said. "Rose, give a jet of water. Leo, Iris-message Nico. James, we need to put water on Percy's back. The water heals him. Of course, it won't do everything, but it will slow the poison." DJ said.

"Aguamenti!" Rose said, holding out her wand. A stream of water flew out, and DJ flicked her hand. The water turned into droplets of mist. Leo fished out something from his tool belt and threw what appeared to be a coin into the mist, and to my amazement, it disappeared.

"James! Water! Now!" DJ's voice snapped me back to reality. I realized I'd just been staring at the events unfold before me. "Sorry." I said, and brought out my own wand. "Aguamenti."

The water shot out from my wand and curled over DJ's palm, which she held beneath it. The blob of coalescing water got bigger, and slowly DJ spread it over Percy's back.

"O Iris, Goddess of the rainbow, show me Nico di Angelo… uh, wherever he is." Leo said, looking directly into the mist. Suddenly an image appeared on the foggy surface.

The image was of a very startled boy. "Holy Zeus, Leo! You almost gave me a heart attack!" The boy said.

"Nico, oh thank gods!" Leo's voice was urgent. "Listen to me, and listen well. Percy's been poisoned. We need to get him to camp." Nico's eyes widened, and Leo continued. "I need you to shadow-travel here, and take Percy back. Get him to the Apollo campers."

"But where do I come?" Nico asked, scanning our surroundings, but obviously failing to understand our location. Leo shook his head. "Just imagine this place Nico. Look at it well, and imagine it."

Nico nodded, but looked uncertain. "Alright, I'll try. But if I mess up, that's going to be very bad."

"Well then, don't mess up!" DJ called over from where she was, in front of me. Leo nodded in agreement. "Oh and Nico?" He said, "Make it fast. Percy doesn't have a lot of time left."

The mist dispersed, and the image was cut off. I looked quizzically at DJ. She shrugged. "That's how we communicate bro."

Suddenly the shadows behind her came together, condensing into a thick black silhouette. A boy tumbled out of it, like he'd been tossed. I recognized him to be Nico. I didn't realize my mouth was hanging open, until DJ cracked up. "Seriously mate, you two should close those mouths before an insect goes in."

Rose was apparently as shocked as I was. It wasn't everyday that we saw people appear out of shadows.

Nico looked younger than Leo, probably DJ's age. He had eyes as dark as obsidian, and olive skin. His black hair hung in his face, but he didn't seem to care. He wore a dark aviator jacket, and a skull shaped ring on one finger. He ran up to where Percy lay. Without a word, Leo and DJ slung Percy's limp arm around Nico's shoulder. Nico didn't even ask for an explanation of Percy's condition. He nodded curtly at Leo and DJ. The shadows condensed around him once more, and he stepped through them, disappearing along with the limp boy he now carried.

Leo and DJ slumped down, looking slightly relieved. I didn't even have time to process what had just happened, when a muffled shriek caught my attention. I turned my head to look at the source, and found myself staring at the girl we had worked so hard to rescue. I felt a twinge of guilt. The girl had a black cloth bag wrapped around her head, and obviously knew nothing about what was going on. She was leaning against a log, and whipping her head from one side to the other, as though she was confused. I didn't blame her. For everything she knew, we could have been more enemies. We hadn't even shown ourselves, much less given an introduction.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Rose exclaimed, as she ran over to the girl. The girl scooted back on hearing her footsteps, but her back was pressed against the log, which was too heavy for her to move. Rose knelt beside her.

"Hey, it's okay, let me get that." She said in a soft tone. She unwrapped the cord around the girl's neck, which tied the bag to it, and lifted the bag off the girl's head. Her mouth had been gagged, and Rose removed that too. On seeing her face, I must admit, I was a little shocked.

She had Egyptian-style Amber eyes, with a fair complexion. Even though she was sitting, I could tell that she was tall and lithe. Her straight brown hair fell loose around her shoulders. Her cheekbones were high, and bangs fell into her eyes. She seemed to be about my age. She looked good, really good, but the way her eyes darted from one of us to the other was unnerving. They had a wild expression in them, like an animal that was trapped. I could tell she was close to having a panic attack. Apparently, so could Rose, for she put an arm gently around the girl's shoulder.

"Hey, it's alright, we're not here to hurt you." She said. DJ scoffed. "We just took on an army of three hundred monsters for her. I'd think the fact that we're _helping_ would be a wee bit obvious." Rose shot her a 'shut up' look before returning her gaze to the girl.

"Look, you can trust us. I'm Rose Weasley. Can you tell us your name?" She asked. The girl seemed to slowly realize that we were not enemies, for she began to relax a little. After a moment's hesitation, she said, "Brynn. Brynn Stilinski."

Rose smiled. "Well, Brynn, it's a pleasure to meet you. This is my brother James, and that's DJ." She motioned towards the two of us. She turned away, making it clear she wasn't going to bother giving Leo's introduction. He ignored her and stuck out his hand towards the girl, grinning. "And I'm Leo Valdez."

Brynn shook his hand. "I know these two." She said quietly, pointing at Leo and DJ. "I'm from Camp Jupiter." She had a strange accent, one I couldn't place.

DJ's eyes widened. "Really?" she asked. Brynn nodded. "I'm a daughter of Victoria."

"You mean Nike, right?" I said. If glares could kill, I'd have been dead from the one she gave me. "I said _Victoria_. Not _Nike_."

I held up my hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, calm down."

"I don't really recall seeing you at Camp Jupiter." DJ said. She shrugged and added, "Then again, there must be at least forty demigods there. I'd have to be Sherlock Holmes to remember all."

Rose put an arm on Brynn's knee. "Can you tell us what happened?" she asked. Brynn looked as though she was about to break down into tears, but she nodded. "I was just hanging out with my friends, and suddenly, something hit my head and I blacked out. When I opened my eyes, I was tied to that slab of rock, with these monsters leaning over me. They tied that bag around my head and…" Her voice faltered. She looked down at her stomach. I followed her gaze, and saw burn marks on her skin. I clenched my fists. "They were torturing you." I concluded. For some reason, the idea of Bryn getting tortured made me extremely angry. Brynn nodded weakly. "Well, it's fine now. You're with us." Rose said. She moved slightly, and flinched. Brynn's eyes widened. "You're hurt." She observed, looking at the graze on Rose's waist.

Rose waved it off. "I'm fine." Leo fished out the flask of nectar from his bag, and poured it into the cap. "No, you're not." He said. He handed the cap to me. "Pour it on the wound. I don't really know if it'll work on you Wizards, but the poison is from a Greek monster, so it's worth a try."

I nodded, and slowly tipped the contents of the liquid onto Rose's wound. Immediately, the wound started to disappear, and from Rose's expression, I could tell that the poison had been cured as well. She sat up straighter. "Thanks." She told me. Leo snorted. "You're welcome." He said. Rose ignored him. "What do we do now?" DJ asked. All eyes turned to me.

"Why are you guys staring at me?" I asked, incredulous. "'Cause you're the oldest." Leo said, as if that automatically made me Leader. I was shocked to see that these people looked to me as their leader, but the encouraging faces gave me courage. I cleared my throat. "Fine. We need to rest before continuing. Not for long though, only for about four or five hours."

Rose sat back and nodded. She looked at Leo. "You. Fire boy. We need to start a camp-fire."

Leo narrowed his eyes at her. "Lady, you did _not_ just call me _fire_ _boy_." Rose ignored him again, which was expected. I turned to DJ. "DJ, use your earth powers, and gather some sticks for the fire. If we're going to reach the portal, we need a rest."

DJ nodded and held out her hand. Within moments, twigs of all different sizes came flying, and created a pile beside her. Leo lit them ablaze with one simple fireball. The minute the fire had appeared in his hands, I could have sworn I saw Rose flinch.

Once we all had settled against our own cozy logs around the fire, Rose turned to Brynn. "Brynn, you really can trust us. We're friends. We-" She stopped abruptly. "Oh!" she exclaimed. The look on her face said she'd gotten one of her 'ideas'. "New friends be found, they'll join the fight!" she recited the line from the prophecy.

"What does that… oh, you think Brynn is the new friend!" Leo said, catching on quickly. Rose rolled her eyes at him. "Well, good to see your brain isn't completely empty."

Before Leo could retort, Brynn cut in. "What're you guys talking about?"

Rose hesitated. "Um…" Brynn must've understood. "It's okay, if you don't want to tell me." She said, her voice somewhat sad. Rose shook off her hesitation and smiled. "No Brynn, we trust you."

Briefly, we filled Brynn in on the details of the quest. She seemed to be slightly shocked by the news, and by the time we had finished, her mouth was hanging open. "You want me to come on this quest _with_ you?" she said. Her accent was bothering me. It was strange, and I simply couldn't place it.

Rose chuckled. "We aren't going to force you, but if you want, we'd love to have you come with us." "Uh…" I raised my hand, but Rose fixed me with one of her trademark glares, and my voice faltered. I may have been the oldest here, but Rose was way more mature. If anyone should have been leader after Percy, it should have been her.

Brynn smiled widely. "I'd love to come!" We must've looked surprised, because she blushed. "I mean, I don't really have a choice do I? I don't have anywhere else to go. There's no way I can go back home."

"Well, at least we know what the line about the one being lost after pain means." Rose said. DJ sat bolt upright. "Percy's not dead!" She exclaimed. Rose nodded. "Exactly. I think we were looking at the prophecy wrongly. We lost Percy, but he didn't die. We simply lost him from the quest."

DJ seemed to relax a little, and she leaned back again. Beside her, Leo sat tinkering with some wires and pipe-cleaners. I fidgeted nervously. "Uh, guys?" I asked the two demigods, "You are sure Percy's gonna be alright, yes?"

Leo nodded confidently. "Don't worry James. Will and the other Apollo campers are excellent healers." "Will?" I asked, confused. "He's the counselor of the Apollo cabin." DJ replied, as though that explained everything. I decided to ask no more. Leo smiled. "Percy's like, popular boy extraordinaire. People will help him, don't you worry."

"That, and the fact that Nico's taken him back. Will isn't gonna have a problem with helping out Nico." DJ added with a smirk. She and Leo exchanged glances, then burst out laughing.

"What do you mean?" I asked, not getting the joke. DJ shook her head. "Camp stuff, you won't understand."

Rose sighed again. "Alright. Y'all can keep talking, I'm going to sleep." She took out her sleeping bag from her backpack, and started preparing for the night.

"Leo and I can keep watch." I offered, then looked at Leo for confirmation. He nodded. I took out my own sleeping bag, and offered it to Brynn, who readily accepted it. She started untying the knots, but her fingers fumbled. I reached out to help her, but she recoiled. "Hey, I'm just trying to help." I said, in the softest voice I could manage. Brynn must have still been going through the shock of what had happened. She didn't refuse my help, but was jittery, as though she expected me to turn into a murderous raving lunatic and chop her limbs off.

Once Rose and Brynn were asleep, I went and sat beside DJ.

"Um, DJ?" Leo said, looking slightly scared, "That thing you did with the Manticore, please don't do it again." DJ gave him a confused look, and he quickly added, "I mean, it was cool and all, but also a little freaky."

DJ laughed, but it was devoid of any humor. "I _am_ a freak bro. And a weirdo. Don't you _expect_ me to do freaky and weird stuff?" Leo looked a little taken aback by her statement, and I must admit, it had shocked me too. I had never seen anyone downgrade themselves so.

"DJ, that's not…" Leo started to say something, but DJ waved it off. "I'm going to sleep too. You guys keep watch." She walked over to where Brisingr lay. The pegasi had joined us not long ago, and were also snuggling up next to the fire. Blackjack was already asleep, from the looks of him. DJ brought her knees close to her chest, and leaned against Brisingr, who wrapped his wing around her. Within moments, she was out too.

I couldn't help but smile. The two looked like inseparable friends. My eyes drifted over to where Brynn lay, and I smiled wider. She looked so peaceful when she was asleep. Then I remembered how nervous she had been when I tried to help her, and my smile faded. I turned to Leo.

"Girls are weird." I said. He laughed."Tell me about it. Your sister here seems like she wants to roast my head for dinner."

I joined in with his laughter. "Well, at least DJ seems cool." I said, pointing towards the sleeping girl, "You two are best friends right?"

Leo shrugged. "I suppose you could say that. But I've always seen her as more of a younger sister." I nodded.

"Um, you're Rose's cousin right?" He asked me tentatively. I nodded, giving Leo a 'duh' look.

"Do you know why she hates me?"

I let out a breath. I'd been hoping Leo never asked this, but I suppose it was inevitable. "Leo, I don't know all the details."

He nodded in a 'go on' gesture.

"It happened three years ago. Rose had a best friend named Brett Rogers. He was like her brother." I picked up a twig and dug it into the ground. "One day they went to watch a movie or something… And they disappeared."

Leo's mouth dropped open. "We searched for weeks, but we couldn't find the two." I continued, "Finally, after about two… three… three weeks, we found Rose. She was lying on our porch, half dead, unconscious, bruises everywhere. Brett was nowhere to be seen."

I dug the twig deeper, so deep, that I almost snapped it. I couldn't bring myself to look at Leo yet. "Rose went into shock for a month after that. Once she recovered, she told us what had happened, but I didn't get to hear all of it." I dropped the twig, now having made a two-inch deep hole in the ground, and dusted my hands free of the dirt. "Rose said she and Brett had been kidnapped by some guys. She didn't see their faces, and even after searching everywhere, the muggle police didn't find them. Neither did the Aurors. We decided to leave it be; why to torment Rose further. Rose didn't want to go onn with the investigation either."

"But that's not the reason she hates me?" Leo guessed. "No it's not." I agreed, "It's what happened to Brett." I took a deep breath. "Leo, Rose told us that Brett had been burned alive. She lost her best friend to fire."

Leo looked as though someone had slapped him across the face. "So she hates me because of my powers?"

"I think it's because you resemble Brett quite a lot. You probably remind her of him, and it's almost cruel that the bloke who reminds her of her dead friend has powers over fire." I said. I didn't know whether I wanted to say the next lines or not, but I spoke them anyway.

"Leo, I don't think she hates you." I said. Leo raised an eyebrow, clearly confused. I looked straight at him.

"I think she's scared of you."

~.~.~.~.

**A/N: Again, I'm so sorry if it stinks! I know it's long and boring, but it gives important info, which is necessary for your understanding of the story! Sorry! Also, I know this is just a filler, but please review and tell me what you think of it!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Okay, to start off, I owe you guys a huge apology. I AM SO SORRY! Now. Why am I apologizing? Because I decided to make Brynn a daughter of Victoria (Roman form of Nike) instead of Minerva. I APOLOGIZE! REALLY! I know, it might have been interesting to have a daughter of a maiden Goddess, but I decided I didn't want Brynn's parentage to be a huge complication in the story. Seriously, it WILL NOT affect anything else. Also, Victoria is more suited to the plot than Minerva. **

**Oh and… also… this chapter is the first time I'm doing a Rose and DJ POV. I'm sorry if I mess it up. :(**

**Lifelong potterhead: I think I owe you yet another apology. I REALLY AM SORRY! Your review made me so happy! I'm sorry about the Minerva-Victoria thing, but I promise to try and write better!**

**Enjoy please!**

~.~.~.~.

Leo:

"WAKEY WAKEY!" James yelled in DJ's ear. DJ gasped awake, and a gust of wind blew James off his feet. She looked at all of us with wide eyes, and seemed to realize what had happened. "Revenge for Chihuahua I suppose?" She scowled at James, who nodded innocently. I was too busy laughing my head off to say anything.

"Alright you two, we need to move." Rose said, trying to hide the hint of a smile that played on her lips. I got up and brushed off the dirt from my jeans. "Are we going to travel on foot?" Brynn asked.

Rose shook her head. "No. Even if it is only five hundred meters, there may be more monsters. We travel by flight." She unhooked her broom from Blackjack's saddle, and mounted it. DJ hoisted herself onto Brisingr's back, and looked down at James and Brynn.

"James, you can ride Blackjack with Brynn." She said. James' face went completely red, and Brynn took a sudden interest in her shoes. "Ride as in… ride?" James asked, turning redder by the instant. DJ looked slightly confused. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what I said. Ride. With Brynn behind you. Honestly, am I speaking Latin?"

"But I don't know how to ride a Pegasus!" James said, sounding a bit desperate. DJ grinned. "Yeah, you don't really need to worry about that. Blackjack is an expert flier. He'll fly you well enough."

I smirked and got onto Brisingr. James mounted Blackjack, and Brynn went on after him. He was still as red as a tomato, causing DJ to shoot me a very confused look. "Alright y'all. Let's go!" Rose took off.

We followed suit. The forest spread out below us. We'd not been flying for anything more than ten minutes, when Rose yelled at us to descend.

When we touched down, she hooked her broom back onto Blackjack's saddle, and peered at the surroundings. We were in a slightly different part of the forest, with slightly different trees.

"It should be somewhere here…" Rose said, her eyebrows knitted in concentration. I shrugged. "I don't see anything. Maybe you miscalculated?"

She fixed me with her cold glare. "Miscalculated? Did you just say _miscalculated_?" She started walking towards me, but James intervened. "Woah you two. Can we stop with the whole I-can't-go-one-instant-without-trying-to-kill-you thing? We're on a quest, and you two would do good to behave."

Rose stood down, but kept her glare on me. I glared back. I was getting tired of her constant hostility. Sure, she had a reason to fear fire. But that didn't excuse her behavior.

"Leo, I'm pretty sure this is the place. Even I calculated our distance, and this is five hundred meters from where we were." DJ said, crouching low. "Then why don't I see anything which even remotely yells 'PORTAL' at me?" I asked.

"Oh, my dear, I would think that'll be my job." A new voice said from behind me.

Before I could turn and see who it was, the world did a three-sixty, and everything went black.

~.~.~.~.

Rose:

The world was spinning around me. I didn't know what was going on, but whatever it was, it wasn't good for my stomach. Once the world stopped doing the loopty-loops, I clutched my stomach, feeling nauseous.

I looked around, and found myself to be in a room. I'd never seen this room before, and confused, I got to my feet. The nauseating feeling was a bit less. "Hello?" I called out.

There didn't seem to be anyone in the room with me. Moonlight was filtering in through a window on the far wall, and in the faint light, I could make out that this was a child's room. "James? DJ? Brynn? You guys there?" I called out again, not bothering with Leo. He had been getting on my nerves since I'd met him. Then of course, there had been his power.

I shook my head clear of my thoughts. I realized I had worse problems to deal with than a hyperactive Hephaestus boy. I was about to go to the door, which was locked, when a faint smell tickled my nostrils.

My eyes went wide, and I fell to my knees. The smell grew stronger, and I could feel the fear creeping over me.

Smoke. I smelt smoke.

I ran to the window and looked out, only to see the hints of flames, which seemed to be originating from the house. I ran back to the door, and put my hand on it. It was burning hot. I screamed and scrambled back. I was mortally afraid of fire. Ever since that day when Brett had… No. I refused to think about it.

I needed to get out of this place. Smoky tendrils were making their way through the gap beneath the door. If I didn't get out, I'd soon be burnt alive, just like my best friend had been. I looked towards the window, but it was too small for even a toddler to squeeze through, much less a teenage girl like myself.

That left only one option. I had to escape through the main door. I calmed my nerves, and walked back up to the door of the room. My hand shook violently as I reached for the doorknob. I shut my eyes tight, tears trickling down my cheeks. This was the only way.

I threw open the door.

Once out of the room, panic swallowed me whole. The door shut behind me, cutting off any retreat. I screamed at the very sight of what I saw in front of me.

The whole house was in flames. Fire crept along each and every one of the walls. Staircases, which I assumed led down to the ground floor, were now fully ablaze. Heat slapped me in the face like an actual force. My lungs were robbed of oxygen. I was inhaling pure smoke.

It wasn't the fire that was killing me though. It was fear.

I could hear Brett's frightened screams; I could hear his plea for help. I sank to my knees once again, not being able to move and inch. Tears ran down my cheeks freely now.

Brett's screams grew louder. The haunting laughter of the kidnappers echoed in my ears. I felt dizzy, unable to think properly. The screams and laughter grew so loud, that they were unbearable. I covered my ears, letting loose a guttural yell. My throat was raw from screaming, and also from the smoke.

I looked up, tears clouding my vision. I could feel myself succumbing to fear. I'd always dreaded this. I had nightmares when I was younger. I would die in a fire. This was my nightmare coming true.

I didn't know where my friends were, but judging from the lack of any screams other than my own, I had a feeling I was alone in this inferno.

A part of the ceiling collapsed beside me. I shrieked in panic and scrambled away. I'd gone too far though. I hit the wall, and my shirt caught fire. I screamed again, and desperately tried to bat out the flames. I was sobbing by now, terrified for my life. I didn't know what was happening, and it scared me more than anything I had ever faced.

I managed to put out the flames on my shirt, which was burnt and full of holes. Thankfully, I was wearing another shirt underneath, but currently, I didn't bother.

My fingers curled around the railing of the staircase, which I barely managed to reach. It was flaming hot, and burned my palms, but I didn't care. I needed a support to steady myself.

Around me, the house was getting burned to the ground. Sections of the ceiling collapsed in fiery blasts, as they hit the ground.

I couldn't think, I couldn't breathe. I could only feel fear. It gripped me, like icy tentacles. Dark spots danced in front of my eyes. I leaned onto the railing with my full weight, ignoring my burning hands. If this was to be my end, I would have to accept it calmly.

James' face flashed in front of my eyes, and I let out another loose sob. One by one, I saw the blurry visages of all my family members. Every single person I was going to lose, because of this damned fire.

No. I refused to fall prey to flames again. I had already lost my best friend to this, I wasn't going to let it take me as well. I rose to my feet, coughing and crying. I was what normal people would call a 'mess' at this point, but it didn't matter. Sweat ran down my face, and my hands were badly burnt and bleeding. I tried to look through the flames, and managed to make out an outline of a door. That was my only chance.

The stairs were in fire, but the flames stuck to the sides, not yet reaching the centre. I staggered towards the staircase on the left, and paused, contemplating my next move. I could do this. I needed to do this. For mom, for dad, for Hugo and Molly. For James, Albus, Lily and my uncle and aunt. For every single person I held near to me. I wasn't going to die like this. I simply refused to die like this.

Cautiously, I set my foot on the first stair. The fingers of flames reached out to grab me, but I kept my eyes on the door. I cleared my mind of any thought; cleared my heart of any emotion. I refused to feel pain, refused to feel fear. I would not be made to feel afraid, especially not by this non-living predator.

Slowly, carefully, I took my next steps. Every step filled my lungs with more smoke. I pulled my shirt over my nose, but it offered little protection. I ignored the searing heat, and focused every last strand of energy into reaching the door.

After what felt like ages, I cleared the staircase. I collapsed onto the floor, as the ceiling came crashing down on the floor above. I was only a matter of time before the entire house went down as well. I got to my feet again, and faced the door. Between my escape and me, was a barrier of fire. The orange glow seemed to be laughing at me; mocking my weakness. Tears dried up in the heat before they reached my chin. I glared at the fire, as though it was a living opponent. I'd made it this far. There was no way I was backing out now.

Closing my eyes, I leapt across the flames.

One minute it felt as though the sun had exploded around me. The next, I was standing in front of the door. The heat was comparatively less, even though I was aware of my hair and clothes being on fire. I batted them out as quickly as I could. The line of fire was behind me. I'd crossed the final hurdle.

I turned back to the door, which was to be my escape. I turned the knob, but the door wouldn't open. It was locked from outside.

I cried again, and shook it with all my strength. No luck. I was about to accept my death once and for all, when I remembered my most precious weapon.

My wand.

I brought it out, and with a flourish, aimed my spell at the lock.

"ALOHAMORA!" I screamed. The knob twisted itself, and the door opened, leading to what I assumed was the front lawn. I ran through the door, only to have the world turn black again.

~.~.~.~.

DJ:

I had experienced the whole world-going-black-and-ending-up-at-another-place thing before. I was _not_ a fan.

The last thing I remembered was the weird voice behind Leo, which didn't seem to belong to anyone, before darkness flooded my eyesight.

The world had been spinning too, but once it stopped, the darkness didn't clear. My feet were on solid ground, but that was about all I knew of my surroundings. I blinked rapidly, trying to get my eyes to adjust.

"Hey guys, you know where the heck we are?" I asked. No response. I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. "Guys? I kinda asked you a question." I called out. No response yet again.

Now I was seriously starting to panic. I reached out, and tried to feel my way about. My hands hit a wall, and I decided to move forward, keeping one hand on it. I hadn't gone more than three meters, when my hand hit something soft. I immediately withdrew it, and took out my dagger. In the faint glow of the celestial bronze, I saw what my hand had felt.

A body.

A dead body to be precise. With maggots in its eye, and its pink tongue rolling out. I yelled and scrambled back, only to trip over something else. I brought my knife closer to the obstacle, and my stomach constricted. It was another corpse, in a state much worse than the previous.

Only the torso and legs remained. Half its head was gone, and the other half was so disgusting, I'm not gonna describe it. The hands were squashed, and blood stained the floor beneath. I did the natural thing any sane human being would do at this point.

I puked.

I emptied all the contents of my stomach onto the corpse, making it even more disgusting than before. I stood up shakily. I couldn't bear to look at the thing again.

"HELLO!?" I yelled, now getting frantic. "Is anybody THERE?" I got no response. Fear started settling on me when I realized what this meant. I was alone in this place. I fell to my knees, rasping for breath. This had always been my biggest fear.

Isolation.

I'd always been scared of being alone. Put me in front of an army with one or two other people, and I could do anything. Put me alone? My senses would stop working. And I was alone right now, in this house.

That's what I assumed it was, judging by the fabricated floor. I didn't know anything else about this place, but any place which kept dead bodies like the ones I saw, couldn't possibly be fairyland.i didn't even know what had happened to my friends, but I decided I had worse problems at the moment. Nothing indicated that my friends were in any kind of danger, and even if they were, worrying about them wouldn't help. I held up my dagger again, and to my horror, saw a face in front of mine. It was missing its eyes, and the nose was broken. I shrieked and stepped back. Everywhere I turned, there seemed to be another dead body greeting me.

Repulsed, I started walking away from the bodies. Before I'd gone far, a voice came from nowhere. The voice didn't say anything, just whispered in my left ear. I hastily swung my dagger to the left, but ended up slicing thin air. The voice seemed unaffected.

More voices joined the haunting chorus. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but they came from everywhere. The person who had built this house apparently had no idea of the invention called a 'light bulb', for the only light available to me was the glow of my dagger. The voices got louder, almost as though they were approaching me. My breathing was ragged. I collapsed on the floor, trying to steady myself, get a bearing of the place, but my brain stopped working. Fear took me over. I broke out a cool sweat, despite the breeze, which came from Zeus-knows-where.

The voices were getting louder by the instant. They were everywhere, coming from all around me. It chilled me to the bones. I put my hands over my ears and yelled, a blood curling yell that scared me almost as much as the voices did. I screamed until my throat could no longer take it.

I got to my feet again. The voices had stopped, but the eeriness still lurked. About five feet to my right, something glowed. I squinted at it, and the something split into _two_ somethings. With fresh horror dawning upon me, I realized they were eyes. My dagger's light did nothing to reveal my opponent.

I screamed again. I could barely manage to keep myself steadily on two feet. I was alone in this bloody place, surrounded by dead bodies and whispering voices. I couldn't even see the monster coming towards me. Fear closed in on me. My mind was befuddled by it. My voice betrayed me; I couldn't even call for help. I realized my arms were shaking at my sides. The glowing eyes were dangerously close. The tiny part of my brain that wasn't consumed by panic told me to bolt. And that's exactly what I did.

I ran in the opposite direction. All I wanted was to get away from that thing, whatever it was. Once I had put a distance of more than twenty feet between myself and the thing, I reached out with my hand, and felt a railing. With relief, I realized it was a staircase. I was about to start descending, when a hand came from nowhere and grabbed mine. I cried out and tried to release myself from it, but it wouldn't budge. The strong grip cut off the blood circulation.

"STOP THIS!" I cried in desperation. I slashed down at the hand with my dagger, severing it from the rest of its body. I pulled my own arm away, only to find a severed hand still attached to my wrist. I yanked it off. If I hadn't barfed up everything before, I surely would have done it again.

I gripped the railing with my other arm, and ran down the stairs. Once I'd reached the bottom, I sheathed my dagger and brought out my sword, Lancer. The light was a little more now, due to the increase in size.

I was surprised I had made it this far. With my mind blank from fear, I didn't know how I was standing up till now. I wanted to curl up into a ball and let the fear consume me. It was bad enough that I was alone in this dark creepy house. That in itself would have been enough to make me have a heart attack out of fright. But to add to my misfortune, this place was decorated with dead bodies, and freaky hands.

I needed to get out of this place. I forced myself to calm down. My breathing was still raspy, but my mind cleared a bit. Hey, I had fought hundreds of monsters, titans and even giants. This place was _not_ going to kill me.

Somewhere from my left, I heard the sound of something being repeatedly banged against the ground. The clanging noises grew louder, as though whatever was making it was coming closer. I counted under my breath to calm my nerves.

One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi…

Once I was sure I wouldn't accidentally pass out from fear, I turned and ran. I hadn't gone far, when my foot hit something soft and squishy. Immediately, tendrils of god-knows-what started creeping up my legs. It pulled me towards itself, and I screamed. I frantically swung downward with Lancer, but ended up hitting nothing. I was screaming my head off by now. The thing was pulling me at an alarming speed, but I didn't want to die. Not like this.

Tears steaked my face. I didn't like crying, because it made me feel weak, but this was just too much. I had never been so scared in my entire life, and that was saying something. I almost was ready to let it take me, when I realized I had my powers at my disposal.

I willed the wind to take me away from the thing. A tornado appeared around me, and started dragging me in the direction opposite to the thing. I had become the rope in this game of tug-of-war. I made the tornado grow stronger, and it finally overpowered the thing.

I crawled away from it as fast as my legs would carry me. I was crying my eyes out by now, frightened out of my skin. I managed to stand up, but I swayed on my feet. I thrust out my hands, and the tornado exploded. It had the desired effect on the house.

A door, not too far in front was thrown open. I almost cried out in relief, but my joy was short lived. I could hear footsteps rapidly approaching me from behind. Before I could face them, something shot out and grabbed my foot, yanking me down. I looked at it and saw another hand. Other hands appeared out of thin air and started clawing at my body. I screamed at them to stop, but they paid no heed.

"MAYBE WE COULD TALK!?" I cried out in sheer desperation. "I'LL BUY YOU A COFFEE! MAYBE SOME PIZZA? PLEASE MAN, LET ME GO!" I was crying again, and I didn't see how I could make it out.

The hands pulled me further and further away from the door, and I could see my escape grow smaller. That made my resolve harden. I was a daughter of Poseidon. I would NOT be killed by creepy limbs which belonged to no one.

I slashed at the hands. Lancer's blade cut through them like they were made of butter. Within moments, I was freed. Some hands still clung to me, but they had been separated from their bodies. I didn't even bother to take in the disgustingness of it all. I simply ran towards the door.

The whispering voices came again, and the eyes reappeared. But my goal was fixed. I ran like I had never run before. My legs ached, but I didn't give up. The door started to shut, but I reached it just in time to throw it open again. I rushed out, getting away from the house.

And once again, the world around me started spinning.

~.~.~.~.

**A/N: Man, that was literally the longest chapter I have written till now. I tried to make it as interesting as possible, and please tell me what you think of it! Reviews are greatly appreciated! I apologize once again for the whole Minerva-Victoria thing, but it seemed more suitable to the plot. **

**Please review! :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: HOLY. MOTHER. . I CAN'T EVEN… ABOVE 800 VIEWS, YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! I seriously can't believe so many people are reading my story... Also, the last chapter was probably one of my favorites… I don't even know why I'm saying all this… I'm basically rambling out of happiness. **

**Right then… To the point. This fic was rated T for violence and gore… And this chapter had quite a lot of that. Well… at least, a part of it does… **

**Lifelong potterhead: Seriously, I can't even tell you how happy your reviews make me! I'm so glad you liked the previous chapter too! I really hope you enjoy this one as well! :)**

**Enjoy!**

~.~.~.~.

James:

I was whisked off my feet when the world decided to become a giant Ferris wheel. Everything was spinning around me.

When finally it stopped, I tumbled onto the ground. I held my head with my two hands, trying to steady myself. I was getting dizzy, but I couldn't have that. Whatever this place was, I couldn't afford to be weak.

Shakily, I got to my feet. I looked around, and found myself in some sort of a clearing. A few feet in front of me was a pond filled with blue water. I recognized this place. It was a part of the forbidden forest. But how in the world did I end up here?

My eyes landed on what lay in between the pond and me, and I forgot about everything else.

"GUYS!" I cried, running over to my friends. Rose, Leo, DJ and Brynn lay on the ground, their eyes closed. I could tell they were alive; their chests rose and fell with breaths. I fell to my knees and shook Rose, slapping her face, trying to revive her. "Rose, c'mon mate, wake up!"

I tried the same thing with the rest of them, but to no avail. They seemed to be knocked out cold. I would have to try another way. I aimed my wand at Leo's face, and yelled "Aguamenti!".

The water splashed onto his face, but he didn't wake up.

I scrambled from one to another, throwing water in their faces, slapping them, shaking them. No response. I didn't know what had happened to my friends, and I felt utterly clueless and helpless.

Helplessness.

I felt weak and un-powerful. Helplessness had been my greatest fear. I always liked to know what I was doing, to have a solution to everything. But seeing my friends lie there motionless, my mind went blank from fear. I was going to lose them. All of them.

"Guys, please, please man, wake up!" I could feel tears wetting my eyes. I sat down hard, the impact hurting my knees, but I didn't care. I was no healer. Heck, I couldn't even fix a broken toe. And yet, I was the only one who could help my friends, and all I could do was sit and watch them die.

That wasn't the end of my problems. Not by a long shot.

The temperature of the pond seemed to drop drastically. The grass around my feet froze and wilted. I shivered, despite the warm night. I knew what this was, and I didn't like it. Not one bit. I looked up and saw what I had dreaded.

Scores of dementors flew around us, circling out little group from above. I could feel them flying closer and closer. They dropped close to my friends, and started sucking their life out of them. With fresh horror, I realized they were performing the kiss.

"NO!" I yelled, but my voice sounded weak, even to me. I tried to take out my wand, but my fingers fumbled. My hands were shaking, and I was crying. I didn't want to admit it, but this scared me worse than Professor Hart, which was saying something.

I could feel the dementors drawing out every shred of happiness inside me. I could feel my memories draining away. I felt colder and darker. My feelings betrayed me; I wanted everything to be as dark and forlorn as I felt. I could literally see my identity draining away.

But the dementors' main focus was on my friends. They wouldn't last long under this kind of attack. Hundreds of dementors were above us now, draining my friends of their happiness, of their sanity, of their soul. I took out my wand, and it clattered to the ground.

I had never felt so helpless in my entire life. I wanted to run into a corner and cry, let the dementors take me prey as well. I didn't feel as though the world was worth fighting for. Everything seemed cold. I felt as if I could never feel happy again; as if misery was everything I had inside of me.

I was crying hard by now. I didn't even bother feeling embarrassed. I looked at my friends, who lay on the ground, unable to hold off the dementors. I looked at Rose's face, and remembered my family. I looked at DJ and Leo, and saw every single one of my friends. I looked at Brynn and saw all the happy moments I had spent with my close ones.

I shut my eyes, trying to get my brain under control. If I didn't help my friends, they would die. And I couldn't have that. I picked up my wand, and forced my emotions down.

"Expecto…" my voice faltered, breaking. I the dementors were circling more rapidly now, taking away every good memory with them. I couldn't find one inside myself, which was strong enough for a patronus.

A small ball of light rose from my friend's mouths. The kiss was almost complete. If I didn't act quickly, I would lose all of them. I locked my jaw, and dived inside myself, hunting for a memory which was good.

"Expect…" I failed yet again to produce a proper patronus. The balls of light, which were in fact, their souls, were rising further away from my friends by the instant. Soon they would disappear, and my friends would be lifeless corpses.

I closed my eyes again. There had to be a memory the dementors hadn't touched.

I remembered my Christmas, with Dominique and Fred smearing cake all over my face. I remembered walking in on Teddy and Victoire snogging, then jumping up and down like a lunatic when I told my siblings. I remembered Hugo's birthday, with Albus Rose and I dancing our hearts out. I remembered the victory celebration with my friends, when we won our first house cup.

With these memories flashing in front of my eyes, I pointed my wand at the dementors.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" I yelled, forcing every happy feeling of mine into the words. A silver stag burst from the tip of my wand, and galloped a few steps ahead. It emitted a strong silver aura, which was basically all my happy memories.

The dementors were repelled by the aura. As it spread further, the dementors fled. The balls of light slowly found their way back into my friends' mouths, and they simultaneously gasped, their eyes flying open.

I didn't even have time to rejoice, when everything went black.

~.~.~.~.

Leo:

I really hated it when I got teleported somewhere else against my will. First there had been Khione throwing me off the _Argo II_, sending me to Ogygia. The there had been Zeus slapping the _Argo II_ to Capm Half-Blood. And now this.

I was in some kind of hall. A huge one, the size of Madison square garden. It reminded me a lot of the throne room on Olympus.

But this wasn't Olympus. This was as far from Olympus as could be. My heart slowly crawled into my throat as I examined my surroundings.

The entire place was trashed. Corpses littered the floor, bathing the white marble in the red hue of blood. To my left, a young man was being held up by his wrists, which were hanging from two poles. He had been whipped mercilessly, I could tell that just by looking at his back. Instead if blood, he bled golden Ichor. With a start, I realized I was looking at Lord Apollo.

To my right, I saw a sight even more worse than the previous.

DJ, James, Rose and Brynn had been tied to poles as well. Their heads lolled forward, and blood dripped from their mouths. Their state was hideous. James had been stabbed in his arms and legs, Rose's hair had been ripped out in several places, Brynn had multiple arrows sticking out of her limbs, and DJ had been whipped almost as badly as Apollo. She looked up at me, blood flowing from the corners of her eyes. She tried to speak, but the effort was too much.

I ran over to my friends. "What the hell happened to you guys?" I cried, holding up DJ's face. She didn't answer me, just threw up more blood. I held Brynn's face next, because I couldn't stand looking at James' and Rose's state. "Brynn! What happened?" I wiped the tears off her cheek. "It's over…" She managed.

"What's over? Brynn, please, answer me!" I tried to get another reply, but clearly those two words had been more than she could have managed. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she passed out. Seeing no other option, I turned to James. I took him by the shoulder, and knelt down so that I could see his face. What I saw made me want to throw up.

He was missing an eye.

I scrambled back in sheer fright. "WHAT'S GOING ON?" I yelled.

A voice cackled through the cavern. "Like your friend said little one," A huge dragon appeared from behind a pillar, "it's over."

The dragon made the monster we had faced at the beginning of the quest look like a playground bully. He towered at least two stories high, being longer than ten school buses put together.

Somehow, I knew who this was. "Python." I snarled.

His lips didn't move, but I could hear his voice in my head. "Yes Leo Valdez. You recognize me. And so you must also know what this is." He jerked his head towards my friends.

"It's the outcome of your little quest. Your friends have been captured, and that weakling Apollo can't even stand up straight. Finally, I shall have my revenge, by slaying the one who had killed me. You, Leo Valdez, have failed."

Failed… That word echoed in my mind. I had felt this kind of fear only twice before. When Festus had crashed for the first time, and next when Annabeth and Percy had fallen into Tartarus.

I had always been afraid of failing. I had been scared that the Argo II might not be up to the mark. I had been scared when, despite of all our efforts, we had failed to save Annabeth and Percy. I had been scared I might not have been able to make my ship turn into Festus again.

I had failed many times in my life. So many, that it had become my biggest fear. As I looked at my friends, dying their horrible deaths, and then at Apollo, about to be killed by this dragon, I realized I was failing again.

Python reminded me of every villain I had ever faced. Khione, Porphirion, and even Princess Dirt Face herself. Two emotions fought within me for control. Rage and Fear.

I favored rage.

I looked at Python with pure loathing. "I'm still alive. And I can fight you." I said, my voice dripping with spite. Python just laughed. "What are you going to do, puny Hephaestus boy? Throw a lug wrench at me?"

That made me even more angry. I had enough people looking down on me, telling me I wasn't useful. I didn't fancy adding a huge dragon to that list.

I turned and grabbed Lancer from DJ's pocket. I flicked it, and the rod expanded into the glowing sword. Python hissed and recoiled a little. My hand caught fire, and I willed the flames to spread to Lancer's blade. Within moments, I was holding a flaming sword in my hands.

"I can do a lot more than a lug wrench." I said. I'd never been very good with swords, but the fire gave me power. I ran to Python, and chopped off his right foot. He yelled and shot fire at me, which didn't harm me one bit.

I smirked and stabbed upwards with Lancer, driving it till its hilt in Python's stomach. I yanked the sword out and glared at the monster

"What are you doing?" Python's voice was panicky. I ignored the question and shot two columns of fire at his neck, setting it ablaze. What I did next, I hadn't thought myself of being capable.

Anger fuelled me. It overpowered fear, and made my body go numb. I wasn't going to fail. Not this time. Rage drove me into doing what I did.

I used Python's hands as leverage, and climbed onto his neck. I drove Lancer through, and climbed on. Python had barely recovered from the previous blow, when I reached his head. My fists glowed with white-hot flames. Letting my emotions take me over, I let out a defiant yell, and drove my fists into Python's eyes.

He screamed in pain, but that only made me dig my fists deeper. I was melting his eyes inside their sockets. Ooze covered my hands, but I didn't care. I couldn't think of anything besides how angry and scared I was.

Slowly, Python's body began to go limp. I took my fists out of his eyes, and leapt off his back, as he slowly disintegrated, his essence returning to Tartarus.

I barely had time to process what I had done, when the world shifted again.

~.~.~.~.

**A/N:**

**Sooooo….. Yep. I know, I know. That was gory. Yep. I write gory stuff. Please review and tell me how you liked the chapter! The reviews really motivate me! Also, next chapter will explain everything that happened in these two… so y'all don't have to worry.**

**See ya next time! Please review!**

**:)**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: oh my gods guys… I'm so sorry. Really. I realized that the entire chapter six of my story had been deleted and replaced by chapter seven, so anyone reading it must've been like **_**what kind of klunk is this**_**.**

**I really don't know how it happened. Seriously. I went back and changed it, but I feel so guilty right now, I can't even say. It must have not been good if someone was reading this, and they came upon that. If even after that, you're still here, I want to thank you for keeping faith.**

**Okay. Setting that matter aside, I have decided that my story is lacking in fluff. I'll spill, I stink at fluff. Really. And I'm not much of a fan of it either. But for anyone reading this, who's a fluff-lover, this chapter will have a bit of it. A bit. I really can't write more, but I want my story to have all the elements for a good plot. **

**Lifelong potterhead: THANK YOU SO MUCH! :))))) I'm so glad you liked that chapter, and I really appreciate the compliments. I hope this chapter isn't too boring! **

**RIGHT THEN.**

**Onto the story.**

**So much for making my author's notes short. :|**

~.~.~.~.

Leo:

I found myself back in the clearing. My friends were kneeling in front of me, in various states of shock. I didn't bother looking at them.

The full impact of what I'd done hit me. I'll admit, it wasn't my finest moment. I didn't stand up bravely, announcing to everyone how I'd defeated an impossible-to-defeat enemy. Nope. I simply ran over to the nearest tree, knelt at its roots, and threw up.

Can you blame me? Try melting someone's eyes in their sockets. Not an appetite raiser.

Once I was done emptying my stomach, I walked back to where my friends were. This time, I took in their state. Brynn was crying. Rose and James were simply looking ahead with blank expressions on their faces. DJ was muttering to herself like a deranged person.

"It's okay… it's alright… Creepy house gone… I'm alive…" She said the words like a chant. Someone up ahead grunted, successfully snapping us out of our shock.

A teenage boy stood before us. He couldn't have been more than eighteen, with tousled brown hair and green eyes. He was dressed well, not too flashy, not too drab. He had a good build, and would have been good-looking, had it not been for the multiple scars on his face.

"I didn't expect all of you to make it." He said, looking at us with a mildly surprised expression. My eyes narrowed. "What the heck just happened? And who are you?" Rose snapped at him.

Before the boy could reply, DJ answered for him. "You're Phobos right? Son of Ares? God of fear? I know you." She said. She seemed slightly confused by all that was happening. The boy- Phobos- nodded.

I held up my hands. "Woooooah." I said, letting out a small laugh, "You'd better explain what the hell is going on, 'cause my puny brain cells sure can't figure it out."

Phobos looked at us with a strange expression on his face. "I will explain, you don't need to worry about that. But perhaps I should wait for the rest of you to…" His voice trailed off. I knew what he meant. We probably looked like a mess. Rose and James looked like they were going into shock, Brynn couldn't stop her tears, DJ had been muttering like she had lost her marbles, and I had just heroically puked.

Not the most glorious bunch.

Rose and James seemed to catch themselves. They stood up and joined me and DJ. Even Brynn wiped her tears and came to stand beside us. "We're fine. Explanation. Now." Rose said, adding a glare. If someone gave this lady a dollar for every time she glared, I swear, she would have been a millionaire by now.

Phobos sized us up. "The five of you are heading to the temple of Delphi." He said simply.

"Yeah, we worked that bit out for ourselves, funnily enough." I said sarcastically. Apparently Phobos didn't catch that, because he nodded at me, impressed.

"Right. To get there, you will have to cross three portals, of which, this is the first. Each portal tests you for a certain quality." He said, almost echoing Janus' words.

"So this portal tested us for bravery, by seeing if we could or could not control our biggest fear." DJ said. This time, even I was impressed. Phobos gave her a look, and she shrugged nonchalantly. "I faced my biggest fear. The others look just as disoriented and shocked as I feel. You, the god of Fear, are standing in front of me right now, giving us the explanation. Even Scotland Yard could get somewhere with that."

Phobos gave her another confused look, before shaking it off. "Yes. That is absolutely correct." He said, "This portal tested you for bravery. True bravery is when you can conquer even your greatest fear. That is the mark of a true warrior."

"Wait a minute. A moment ago, I was in the forbidden forest at Hogwarts. How'd I get there?" James asked. The same question had been on my mind too. I'd realized that my friends were fine. Shocked, yes. But not in the gruesome state that I had seen. James still had his eye. Rose still had her hair.

"What you saw, was all part of your imagination. You imagined a situation in which you faced your worst nightmare. I took that very situation, and morphed it into a scene, which you saw in your mind." Phobos replied.

"Wait, so… whatever happened, we just imagined that? None of it was real?" Rose asked. Phobos shook his head. "You did imagine it. Why should that mean it wasn't real?" he answered.

_Yeah, thanks a lot mate. That really cleared stuff up_, I thought. DJ raised her hand. "Uh, so… if I barfed in my imagination, does that mean my stomach is empty in real life?"

James looked at her, incredulously. "_Seriously_? After all that's happened, _that's_ what you ask?"

DJ shrugged, not seeming bothered by the fact. Phobos looked a little surprised too, but he answered her nonetheless. "I have no idea. Honestly, you are the first person to ask me such a question. I'm afraid I can't answer you."

DJ's shoulders slumped.

"Hold up. So, you mean we passed the test? That we can cross the portal now?" I asked. Phobos nodded. "This is the first of the three portals you must cross to get to the Temple. But a word of advice. The second and third tests will be just as hard as this, if not more so. Getting to the portal will not be as easy as you think."

"Who said we thought it was easy?" I said, rolling my eyes. "But where's the portal?" Brynn spoke for the first time. She had been standing so silently, I'd almost forgotten she was there.

Phobos smiled, which looked a bit intimidating with all the scars. He waved a hand, and behind him, a whole section of the forest disappeared, to reveal a black swirling void. I stared at the god of fear with wide eyes.

"You want us… to go… through _that_?" James' eyes were bulging out of his head too.

"Yes, I don't see what the matter is." Phobos said. I couldn't believe my ears.

"Seriously. How can you expect us through go through a black space of nothingness? How do we know we'll end up where we're supposed to?" DJ voiced my thoughts.

"I don't see how you have another choice." Phobos answered. I groaned, wishing he hadn't said something logical like that. "You have my assurance. This will take you where it's supposed to." Phobos looked behind us. "Ah! Your Pegasi are ready. Well go on then, mount up!" He added cheerfully.

I shook my head in disbelief. "We're all lunatics." I muttered, as I climbed up on Brisingr's back. DJ climbed on behind me. "Yep. We're certainly are." She agreed.

Rose sat atop her broom, leaving James and Brynn once again in the position of having to share Blackjack. I wondered for a moment if James could possibly go a deeper shade of red, as he and Brynn mounted the Pegasus. Brynn put as much distance between her and James as possible, without falling off.

"Good luck. You'll need it." Phobos smirked at us. We spurred the Pegasi into flight, and sped through the 'portal'.

~.~.~.~.

James:

I'm guessing you'll want to know how the whole going-through-the-portal thing felt. Honestly speaking, I don't know.

One minute we were in the middle of the forest. The next, we were flying a thousand feet up in the air, a city spreading out below us. I had no idea which it was. The dark night sky adorned us from above. I'd never seen so many stars at once. I may have not known which city this was, but looking at the sky, for some weird reason, I knew the city must have been beautiful.

After about an hour of flying, Rose, DJ and Leo decided to call it a night. Rose put the anti-falling-off charm on herself. Leo slumped against Brisingr's neck, and DJ leaned on his back. The three were out like bulbs in no time.

This left Brynn and I in an awkward silence.

"Um… hey." I said. Smart, I know. But come on. How do you make small talk with a girl you just met?

"Hi." Brynn replied. Her voice was sort of shaky. I looked back, and saw her gripping the saddle tightly, her knuckles almost white. Her eyes were shut as well.

"Your accent… it's familiar." I said. Brynn let out a small, nervous chuckle. "It's Scottish. I lived there until two years ago with my father and brother, before I came to Camp Jupiter. I still have the accent I suppose."

I nodded. "So where are they now? Your father and brother, I mean." I could almost see her face darkening.

"They're dead."

This took me by surprise. "I… I didn't know… I'm so… I shouldn't have asked." I stammered. I looked back, and saw her smiling weakly. "You really couldn't have known, could you?"

Suddenly Blackjack flapped his wings hard, and we jerked a little. Brynn let out a small cry. I smirked, finally realizing the cause of her strange behavior.

"You're afraid of heights." I declared.

"No I'm not!" Brynn said, sounding offended. "Really? Then do _please_ tell me why you're gripping onto that saddle like it's your life force." I shot back.

Brynn was quiet for a moment before speaking. "Maybe just a little bit, okay? Don't tell anyone."

I nodded earnestly, though I couldn't see why she'd want to hide something like this. "Was this your test as well?" I asked. Brynn replied with a soft "Yes."

I smiled again. I couldn't communicate with the Pegasi as nicely as DJ, but I _had_ taken horse-riding lessons before. How could this be any different?

I pushed Blackjack's reigns down, hoping he understood. He must have been a sharp twig, because he did.

He tucked his wings and dived.

Brynn screamed her head off. After dropping for about ten meters, Blackjack spread his wings and soared. I looked up, and saw the others above us. They could take care of themselves for a while.

Brynn was still screaming. She was holding on tightly to my shoulders. I looked down, praying the view was nice.

It was.

The city was a landscape of blinking lights. Lights of all different colors lit up the buildings. For a moment, I wondered if we were in New York, the city that never slept, but I quickly shook that off. Even though this city wasn't asleep, it wasn't as noisy as New York would have been.

It was beautiful. The night sky above, dotted with stars, and the millions of lights below.

I looked back at Brynn. "You don't wanna miss this view mate. It's worth seeing." I said. Brynn shook her head. Her eyes were still shut tight, and her fingers dug into my shoulders. "I'm serious Brynn. Give it a shot. Maybe it won't be as bad as you think."

Slowly, carefully, she opened her eyes. She didn't let go of my shoulders, but peered at the scene below us. Gradually, a hint of a smile appeared on her lips. "It _is_ good." She said.

I grinned. After taking in the beautiful sight, Brynn took a deep breath. "We should get back to the others." She said.

"Okay." I replied. Honestly speaking, I would have jumped off Blackjack right then, if she'd asked me to. Dont ask why. Thats just how I felt at that point. I pulled Blackjack's reigns up, and we shot upwards. Brynn let out another shriek, tightening her grasp on my shoulders.

But as we came to a steadfast pace beside the others, I could hear her laughing. So contagious was her laugh, that I quickly joined in. Before I knew it, the two of us were laughing our heads off.

"What in the world…?" DJ looked up at us, her eyes half closed. We shut up. DJ smirked sleepily. "Oh no, please. The two of you carry on. I'm going back to sleep."

I could feel heat rise up to my face. Brynn hastily removed her hands from my shoulders. I didn't need to look back to know that her face was red too.

We flew in silence for a while longer.

"We should take a rest. The Pegasi have been flying for quite some time now." Brynn said. I nodded thoughtfully. A few miles ahead, I could see the outline of a forest. I woke the others up with a loud yell.

"Ah, man, really? Is that your idea of an alarm clock?" Leo grumbled. Rose pulled herself together as I explained our plan to them, but Leo and DJ still looked groggy. Nevertheless, they agreed that the Pegasi needed a break.

"There's a forest up ahead." Brynn suggested. I nodded in agreement.

Once we'd landed in the forest, Rose clipped her broom onto Brisingr. "I suppose this is like last time, then? Make a campfire and take a break?"

DJ took the hint. She held out her hand, and summoned up a pile of twigs, which Leo lit up with a fireball. Rose and Brynn leaned against two trees.

"I'm thirsty." Brynn told us. DJ dug out her bottle, only to find it empty. The rest of us were in the same situation.

"This is bad. This is very very bad." Rose said, looking concerned. "Maybe someone can go get water from a nearby lake or something."

I narrowed my eyes. "Hold the phone. I aint drinking murky pond water."

"Leave that to me." Rose said dismissively. She seemed so confident, I didn't question her further. I just assumed she had some charm to purify water. "So if y'all get the water, Rose here can purify it." DJ leaned against her own tree, and put her arms behind her head, grinning at us, and added "Note how I said _y'all_."

I sighed, and got to my feet, Leo following my example. "Did anyone spot a lake when we were coming?" Leo asked.

"I think I saw one not too far off to our left." Brynn answered. Rose nodded in agreement. "I saw one too, where she said." She smirked. "Have fun filling up, you two." She added, tossing us her bottle. DJ and Brynn did the same. Leo gave me an exasperated look. I simply shook my head.

Our arms full with the bottles we now carried, the two of us headed off deeper into the forest.

Our big mistake.

~.~.~.~.

**A/N: HAHAHAHAAHAHA CLIFFHANGER! *Evil laugh* **

**Um, yeah. Sorry about that. I tend to go bonkers sometimes. Also, sorry for the late update. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! And yes, that was the maximum amount of fluff I can write. *weak smile* **

**Hehe.**

**Favorite, Follow, and don't forget to review! If you liked my story of course… **

**And, if you want, there's a poll going on, on my profile. So, check that out too!**

**Enough rambling, me. Shut up.**

**ALRIGHTY THEN! UNTIL NEXT TIME!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Yay! 2 chapters in two days! BUT HAHAHAHAHAHA I CROSSED A THOUSAND VIEWS OHMYGODS. No seriously. THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO IS READING THIS! YOU HAVE SERIOUSLY MADE ME HAPPY!**

**For once, this author's note is short.**

**#Proud**

**#HAHAHAHA**

~.~.~.~.

James:

"Stupid quests. And stupid bottles." Leo grumbled as the two of us stepped over vines and shrubs. Brynn and Rose's ideas of 'close' needed a LOT of work. Leo and I had been walking for at least twenty minutes, and we saw no sign of a lake.

"I completely agree with you there, mate."I said, almost tripping over a tree root.

After what seemed like hours, we finally came upon the lake. It was more of a pond, really. A small pond. A _very_ small pond.

Leo groaned and sat down. I did the same. "I expected a wee bit more." He mumbled, glaring at the pond, as though that might have magically made it increase in size. He got to his feet again, and held out his hand. "Alright James. You pass me the bottles, and I'll fill 'em up."

I nodded, and we walked over to the edge of the pond.

Leo sat down again, and dipped the mouth of the first bottle into the water. We had seven bottles to fill, for we needed to sustain these for a long time.

"Say, I was thinking," I started. Leo didn't look up from his work as he took another bottle, but nodded. "Since all of you are related on the godly side, doesn't that make all of you guys siblings?"

Leo laughed. "No mate. Gods don't have DNA. So it doesn't really count. Besides," He handed me the second filled-up bottle, "We have enough messed up relations without worrying about the godly side of our family. I mean, one of my best friends is my great-grandfather's ex-girlfriend."

I stared at him, not quite sure I'd heard him correctly. My expression must have been good, because Leo let out another laugh. "She died and came back to life." He said simply. I shook my head and decided not to ask anything else.

We filled the rest of the bottles in silence, and were just about to leave, when some people came crashing through the trees.

I tensed, ready to bring out my wand, but stopped.

They were girls.

They seemed to be about our age. They were wearing dresses which went till their knees. It took me a moment to count, and I found that there were four of them.

"Um…" I stammered. A girl stepped up to me, looking a little scared and desperate. She had on a red dress. Her blond hair had been left loose, and her blue eyes sparkled, despite her scared expression. She was really pretty. And I do mean _really_.

"Oh my gosh, thank goodness we found someone else!" She cried, grabbing my arm. I could feel my face grow hot. "We were camping with our friends, and we went to look for food, but we couldn't find our way back! We've been stumbling around lost forever!"

I looked over at Leo, who seemed just as shocked as I felt. I turned back to the girl in red, who was smiling up at me. She had a perfect smile…

I shook my head. "Um, sorry, but who are you?" I asked, trying to keep the doubt out of my voice. The girl laughed a quiet sweet laugh. "Oh, silly me!"

She let go of my arm, which made me feel slightly disappointed. "I'm Janine." She said, putting a hand on her chest. She pointed to the other girls. "These are my friends, Candy, Emerald and Brenda!"

Leo grinned at them. "Leo Valdez." He said, and held out a hand. A girl-Emerald, I think- shook it. Candy eyed our water bottles. "Oh my…" She looked up at me with those pretty brown eyes. "Can I have some?" I found myself nodding.

Janine was holding my arm again, smiling at me. "You are _so_ nice." She cooed. I smiled back, but in the back of my mind, something told me that this was off. But Janine's smile was so entrancing, the way her perfect teeth glistened in the moonlight.

Brenda and Emerald were holding Leo's shoulders, giggling. "Wow, you're really sweet!" Brenda said, batting her eyelashes at Leo. He shrugged their hands off. "Um, yeah, about that… I actually already-"

Brenda cut him off by squealing. She picked at his necklace, which had exactly one bead on it. "This is so cool!" She grasped his shoulder and rested her chin on it, looking up at his face. Leo's eyes seemed to glaze over. "I guess it is…"

My mind moved sluggishly. Janine's smile was mesmerizing, the way her hair swished over her shoulders. Her eyes seemed to sparkle even brighter. I couldn't think clearly.

"How about a hug, James Potter?" Janine held out her hands. And that's when I knew what was off.

I pushed her back, which seemed to offend her. "I never told you my name." I said, drawing my wand. But Janine's eyes were distracting, and I could feel my arms relaxing. "Oh please James. Like we don't know such a petty thing. How about that hug, huh?" She started to advance towards me.

"James, snap out of it." Leo's voice saved me. He too had freed himself of the girls, and was now brandishing a large hammer. Where he got the hammer from, I didn't know, but now was not the time to wonder.

Janine snarled. "That's not very nice." She began to change, her skin becoming deathly pale, and her eyes going from blue to blood-red. Her canines elongated. Her friends followed suit.

"Vampire!" My voice came out as a timid squeak. Then I looked at their legs. The right leg was a donkey's hoof. The left was humanoid, but made of bronze.

"Empousai." Leo corrected me. "They lure dudes into their trap and eat them." He added. My stomach did a slow roll. And to think I thought she was pretty…

Janine bared her fangs and lunged at me. I braced myself for the impact, but suddenly someone came from behind me, and body-slammed her away.

DJ stood there, panting. Rose and Brynn were beside her.

"Stay away from my bros." DJ said. Janine laughed cruelly. "Really, daughter of Poseidon? You really think you can defeat us?" Brenda smirked. She and Janine seemed to be the leaders of the four.

"Mate, we've taken on Giants, Titans, and even the primordial goddess of dirt, Gaia herself. I think we'll be able to defeat four girlie girls in ridiculous frilly dresses." DJ retorted. Brenda looked down at her dress, offended. Janine gave us an evil smile.

"Oh, but we're not alone you see." She spread her arms, and from behind her, four dark shapes leaped into the clearing. Each stood behind the girls. When I saw what they were, my heart nearly stopped.

They were scorpions. Huge, viscous, snarling scorpions. Their tails were raised above them, and their mouths were frothing. At once, I knew a wand would be useless against them. I shoved mine back into my pocket. I looked at DJ and Leo, expecting them to laugh in their faces and go "HAHA! We can beat ya!"

No such luck. They looked pale and terrified. "Pit scorpions." DJ muttered, "One touch of the tails and you'll be dead within minutes." Leo rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the morale booster DJ."

Candy gave me a sad look. "You should have given us that hug."

They slowly advanced for the kill.

~.~.~.~.

Third Person POV:

DJ clapped her hands together, and a gust of wind blew the empousai off their feet, momentarily giving them time. Brynn rolled up her pant leg, revealing a knife. She unsheathed it, and held it in front of her. DJ flicked Lancer. It expanded into its full form, and she passed it to James, who accepted it without argument. He figured that the scorpions couldn't be harmed by any of their spells. None were powerful enough. DJ offered her dagger to Rose, who shook her head. "I'm fine with my wand, thanks." She had decided to go after the empousai.

DJ shrugged. A bow appeared in her hands; a quiver on her back. James and Rose stared at it, but decided not to say anything. They had seen stranger things. Leo's hands caught flames.

The girls had recovered from the wind, and the scorpions were looking around, slightly confused.

The five didn't think. They charged.

Brynn went for Janine first. She seemed especially keen on killing her, which for some reason, made James feel good. Then he felt confused for feeling good.

Leo and Rose took on the other empousai. Rose threw around some nasty spells, some of which the girls managed to dodge. Leo was smacking Brenda on the head with his flaming hammer.

As for James and DJ, they went straight for the scorpions. James could hear himself thanking all his stars for the fencing classes he had joined two summers ago. Fencing may not have been the same as sword-fighting, but it was pretty close.

The tail of the first scorpion shot downward, but James ducked and slashed at it. He missed, and the tail retracted and came down again. He threw himself out of its way, but not before it grazed his shoulder. Pain flared up from the wound, but he ignored it. The tail came down again, and this time, he was quick enough. He jumped away, and swung the sword, severing the tail from the body. He spun around, and brought Lancer down on the back of the scorpion, and it vaporized on spot. DJ shot several arrows into chinks in the armors of the others, keeping their attention away from James as he fought the first one. She aimed for eyes, hearts and throats.

A second scorpion fell when she nailed it in its heart with five arrows. She threw aside her bow, and got to work with her dagger. James was dodging attacks from the third scorpion. He may not have been a skilled sword-fighter (heck, it was his first time _lifting_ a sword), but he _was_ a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, which meant he was agile and quick. He rolled away just in time, as the tail lodged itself into a tree, passing by not more than a centimeter from his face. He took this opportunity to bring the sword down on its head. The head rolled away, and the monster crumbled to dust. His shoulder was hurting really bad, but he didn't pay attention. Only one scorpion remained, and DJ took care of that.

She smacked aside the tail with the flat of her dagger, and slid on the forest floor, baseball-style. Once she was underneath the scorpion, she stabbed its belly with her dagger, and slid away. It too disintegrated into monster-dust.

While James and DJ fought the scorpions, the other three were making progress with the empousai. Janine snarled and tried to claw Brynn's face, but she shoved her hand away, and stabbed her gut. The knife wasn't big, but Brynn dug it to its hilt. Janine's eyes widened, and she exploded all over Brynn, who, despite all the gross monster dust over herself, smirked triumphantly.

Rose yelled "Reducto!" and Candy erupted too. But to do this, she had turned away from Emerald, who slowly crept up on her. She bared her fangs and prepared to jump.

Leo, who had been fighting Brenda with his hammer, saw this unfold in front of him. He knew for a fact that any warning would have been too late. Emerald lunged, and he did the only thing he could think of. He threw his hammer.

The hammer hit her straight in the face, and she collapsed with a shriek. Rose spun around, and saw the empousai on the ground. She pointed the wand at her and said "Reducto!" She almost smiled to herself. She liked this spell very much indeed.

Unfortunately, this little act of Leo's had distracted him from his fight. DJ and James had finished the scorpions. Rose and Brynn were safe.

No one had time to even yell out a warning, before Brenda leaped at Leo, raking her claws across his chest.

~.~.~.~.

**A/N: AHAHAHAHAAH ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER! I'M SO EEEEEEEEEEVIL! **

**Wow, I wonder when I lost my mind. Last week? Or the week before? **

**Please tell me what you thought of the chapter! I apologize if the action sequence was boring, but I tried my best. Please tell me how to improve! All reviews are sincerely appreciated!**

**By the way, the poll's still on, on my profile, so if anyone wants, please go vote! :)**

**See ya later folks!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: HOLA MI AMIGOS! Here's the next chapter! A note of warning: This is mega-ultra-super boring. Like, really. But it was a necessary interlude. It's a filler, which leads to the action. This is just a fun-filled, ridiculously stupid chapter. Nothing happens in this, 'cept some fun. But it IS kind of important, to clear up the last cliffy. So yep! **

**Lifelong potterhead: OMG thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it! I'm also glad I didn't make them ooc. I was worried I might have done that. I do apologize for cliffhangers, but I must admit, I love writing them. :) Erm sorry. :)**

**Matt: SORRY! Really! But I hope you like this chapter. I tried to clear it up in this one.**

~.~.~.~.

James:

Leo cried out and stumbled backwards. Brenda's claws hadn't dug too deep, but they still left three nasty-looking claw marks across his chest. DJ nailed her in the head with her knife. I hadn't seen many knife-throwers, but I knew for a fact that DJ was a crack shot.

Brenda disintegrated, and Leo collapsed on the ground, but I had problems of my own. My shoulder felt as though it was on fire. My knees buckled, and I started to fall forwards, but DJ caught me, and draped my arm around her neck.

"Woah, mate. Easy there." She said, taking something out of her pocket. "Leo…" I managed. "Calm down. Rose and Brynn have gotten him." She pushed something into my mouth. "Eat this. The poison hasn't broken skin, but it's like acid, so it hurts. Ambrosia will do the work."

The thing tasted like my mother's homemade cake, which was surprising. Immediately the pain eased, until it was just a dull throb. I stood up properly, my vision clearing. DJ and I walked over to where Leo was, leaning against a tree.

Rose was kneeling beside him, dabbing at the wound with a wet towel. I noticed the girls had the backpacks; they must've brought the supplies with them. That was good, for we certainly needed our supplies to fix the wounds on Leo's chest.

"You stupid _stupid_ Hephaestus boy!" Rose grumbled, as she kept wiping the blood off Leo's chest. "Lady, that's the second time I've saved your life." Leo replied.

"You've almost gotten yourself killed!" Rose shot back. Leo narrowed his eyes at her. "Why do you care?"

"We're wasting all this nectar!"

"Ouch." DJ said from beside me, as we sat down beside Leo. Rose didn't pay her any attention. The towel was almost completely red from Leo's blood. "I wonder how your mother tolerates you!" She said. DJ winced beside me. Leo let out a bitter laugh.

"Well she doesn't really have to, seeing to the fact that she died in a workshop fire when I was eight." Leo said simply. Rose's arm froze in mid-air. She gaped at Leo with wide eyes. I didn't really know what to say. Rose _had_ gone a little overboard with the insults. Leo's voice held no plea for sympathy, and Rose didn't give him any. She simply returned to her scowl and said "Well, you should try getting yourself killed a little less often."

Brynn took out the flask of nectar and passed it to her. She poured it into the cap, and dunked the towel in it. She brought the towel near Leo's chest, but her arm was visibly shaking. Beads of perspiration dotted her forehead. She shut her eyes. I'd never seen her like this. Then again, I'd never seen her dress a wound from an empousai.

Brynn seemed to notice this too, for she gently took the cap and towel from Rose's hands. "Here, let me do it." She said. Rose nodded shakily and backed up. "Are you sure…?" I asked.

Brynn smiled at me. "I may not be a daughter of Apollo, but I _can_ dress a wound." She said. "Stay still." She ordered Leo, and got to work. She was about to pour the nectar onto his wound, when he stopped her, and glared at Rose. "You should check that. She probably poisoned it." He jutted his chin out in her direction. Rose glared right back.

"Break it up you two. We're on a quest. And we're a team. So we need to co-operate. Got that?" I told the two of them. Rose turned away, and Leo stayed still, just like Brynn ordered.

"Poisoning nectar isn't even like, _possible_." DJ put in. She picked up a rock from the ground, and started sharpening her dagger. After a moment, she smirked. "And Leo, next time you fall prey to empousai, I'm telling Calypso."

Leo's face paled and his eyes widened. He shook his head vigorously, which made DJ fall into guffaws of laughter. I looked at her. "Calypso?" I asked.

DJ managed to calm down, and shrugged. "His girlfriend." She said simply. She looked around. "I'm hungry." She added.

At first I didn't think I'd heard her correctly. This was news. I opened my mouth to ask, but Rose and Brynn beat me to it. "You have a girlfriend!?" They asked in unison, looking at Leo incredulously.

"Yes," he replied, looking a bit offended, "no need to sound so surprised."

Brynn went back to dressing his wound, her face slightly red. Rose just shook her head. "So what is she, blind or crazy?" Leo glared at her again. "Watch it, lady. She's-"

I cut him off. "Yes that's alright." I didn't need them to launch into another full-out battle. Apparently fate decided otherwise. Leo didn't notice Rose taking out her wand. And he definitely didn't notice her pointing it at him.

Rose was an expert at non-verbal spells, so Leo had no idea which spell she hit him with. She simply flicked her wand, and his hair turned neon green.

I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing, and was joined almost immediately by DJ. Brynn was politely trying her best not to laugh. Leo looked up, but couldn't see his hair; it was matted to his forehead in sweat.

"What did she do? What happened? Why are y'all laughing?" Leo whipped his head from one side to another, trying to figure out what had happened. DJ and I were too busy laughing to answer. Brynn focused on bandaging the wound. Leo glared once more at Rose. "Undo whatever you did, lady."

Rose shrugged and waved her wand again, and turned Leo's hair from neon green to neon pink.

DJ and I were now rolling on the floor, struggling to breathe between gales of laughter. Even Brynn couldn't help but let out a little chuckle. Leo's face was red, though from anger or embarrassment, I didn't know. "FIX IT!" he yelled.

Rose smirked and turned his hair back to its regular color.

"I'll get you for that." Leo stuck out his tongue at her. Rose rolled her eyes. "I'd like to see you try." Brynn had finished dressing his wound. Leo looked much better already; the nectar must've helped. He scanned the forest floor for some reason.

Suddenly his face lit up. He scooped something off the ground, and threw it at Rose, who screamed.

"Lizard!" she shrieked. "GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF ME!" she jumped to her feet, and started flailing around. It was Leo's turn to laugh.

Rose was swatting at herself, trying to find the critter. Brynn got up and stood beside her. "Calm down. I can't find it if you don't stay still." She said softly. Rose slowly managed to calm down. She stayed still, but whimpered slightly. "Got it." Brynn plucked the lizard off from the back of Rose's neck.

"Told you I'd get you." Leo smirked. Rose went up to him and slapped him across the face. "You IDIOT!"

Leo got to his feet, getting in Rose's face. "You started it!" He snapped. "That doesn't mean you throw a lizard at me fire-boy!" Rose shot back. "I'm hungry!" DJ piped in.

"I can't believe Chiron made me go on a quest with you!"

"I can't believe McGonagall made me go on a quest with _you_!"

"HUNGRY!"

"And I thought Khione was bad!"

"You're infuriating!"

"Fooooooooood!"

"I should've dropped you in that tornado when I had the chance!"

"I should've poisoned the nectar when I had the chance!"

"I'm. HUNGRY!"

"ENOUGH!" I yelled at the three of them. Leo and Rose turned away from each other, scowling. DJ crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking like a pouty little kid. "What is it with you two? Am I dealing with five-year-olds?" I shook my head at them. "Honestly. You're going to jeopardize this quest if you keep squabbling like this."

"He started it!" Rose whined. "Really? 'Cause I don't recall flicking my wand at you." Leo yelled.

"SHUT IT!" I cut in. I pinched the bridge of my nose with two fingers. "We need to get moving. Unless you don't remember, we're on a quest. _With a deadline_. Sheesh."

"I'm not moving an inch until he apologizes." Rose snapped. Leo snorted. "Feelings mutual lady." "And I'm not moving an inch until I get something to eat!" DJ added.

"Fine!" I told them. "Both of you will apologize to each other, together. No arguments." I quickly shut them up, as they began to open their mouths again. "After that, we'll eat something, are you listening DJ? After eating, we'll take a rest of a few hours, and then we'll continue. Everyone agrees?" I spoke slowly, as though I were talking to little kids. My tone made it clear I wasn't asking a question. They reluctantly nodded.

"Right then. Apologize. Now." I told Rose and Leo. They turned to face each other and mumbled apologies. I sighed with relief. "Good. Now, let's get something to eat. I'm not fighting anything else until I get some food."

~.~.~.

After about an hour or so, I sat beside DJ, leaning against a log. We'd fed ourselves on tacos, which had been cooked by Leo. He'd pulled everything out of his toolbelt, which could in no way fit everything. I didn't bother asking. I'd seen stranger things.

The food had been delicious. Even Rose enjoyed it, but she'd never admit it. I was honestly getting tired of the two of them constantly bickering. But there wasn't much I could do. I'd just have to hope that they'd have enough sense to focus on the quest.

DJ and I had volunteered for watch. Rose and Leo passed out almost immediately, but Brynn was restless. She kept tossing and turning in her sleep.

I looked at the cackling flames in front of us. DJ sat beside me, slowly sipping water from her bottle (which had indeed been purified by Rose). She looked like a punk kid, with her spiky black hair and tomboyish expression.

"That's a cool necklace." I said finally, eager to get rid of the silence. DJ's bead necklace had ten beads, nine more than Leo. Not just that, it also had a sort of square locket dangling from it. DJ grinned.

"It's from camp. One bead for each year. Ten beads in total." She replied, fingering it. I raised my eyebrow. "You're what, fourteen?" I asked, in a reply to which, she nodded. "That's ten years. You came to the camp at _four_?"

"Wow mate, you're a smart chap aren't ya?" She said. "I was recruited by this boy called Beckendorf. He led my mum and me to camp. Now my mum lives in Manhattan, beside Percy's."

I nodded. "What's that other thing?" I asked, pointing to her locket. "Oh, this." She unclasped it from her necklace and opened it. Turned out, the thing unfolded twice, so it was divided into four sections. She handed it to me.

I peered at it. Each section held a picture. The pictures were small, but I could make out the features. The first was a picture of DJ with a lady who looked a lot like her, who I assumed was her mother. The second was a picture of DJ with Percy and Brisingr. Brisingr was younger back then, and DJ had her arms around his neck, laughing. The third was a picture of a lot of people, all laughing and smiling; they must've been all the campers. The fourth was of DJ with a tall man in a beard. DJ was young in all of these; she couldn't have been more than ten.

"Who's this?" I asked, pointing to the man. "My father, Poseidon." She replied. I nodded and handed the locket back to her.

Ahead of us, Brynn shifted in her sleep. She got up slowly and brushed the bangs out of her face. I smiled. "Can't sleep?"

She shook her head, and came to sit beside me. She smiled at us. "You should get some sleep, you know." She said.

"Aww, it's really sweet of y'all to never let me keep watch." DJ said, sarcasm dripping from her words. Brynn laughed. "Really mate, you should get some sleep. I can keep watch too."

DJ narrowed her eyes and leaned forward to look at the two of us. She looked at me, then at Brynn, then again at me, then at Brynn, then back at me. A smirk formed on her face. "Oh." She said, "Oh. _OH_. I get it."

I felt my face go red. Beside me, Brynn was looking down. "Shut up DJ." I said, trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice.

She got up and started unraveling her sleeping bag. "Well then. If you're offering so nicely, I won't refuse." She smirked wider and crawled into the bag, going off to sleep almost instantly.

I laughed nervously. "Sorry about that." I told Brynn, "Her annoying-little-sister-ness is showing."

Bryn looked at me. "Um, James, I meant for you to get some sleep too." She said, her face slowly losing its redness. "No, that's okay, I can keep watch." I replied. But I had to admit, the mention of sleep made me drowsy.

Brynn smiled. "You haven't slept in two days James. You'll collapse now, from exhaustion." I rubbed my eyes and shook my head. "These guys told me that I'm their leader. Doesn't that mean I need to be the one to keep watch?"

Brynn laughed. "No, it really doesn't." she said. Then her face fell, and she looked sad. "Is it because you don't trust me?"

My eyes widened. "What? No! Of course I trust you! It's just…" I paused, working out my next words. "I don't want to be irresponsible." I said finally.

"You're not irresponsible James. Even leaders need breaks. Besides, you're going to need your energy if you're going to be of any use in a fight. Get some rest."

I could already feel my eyes closing. I slid down and rested my head on the log. Brynn smiled again. "I'll wake you up if anything happens."

"Just for a while…" I managed. I closed my eyes and let sleep drag me into its comforting covers.

Little did I know of what horrors awaited me when I would wake.

~.~.~.~.

**A/N: ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER! Sorry 'bout that. But I'll update soon! Really! And I know, this chapter was really boring. It's just a filler. The next will have action, that's a promise. Do review! It makes me so dam happy! :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: OH. MY. GODS. OVER 1700 VIEWS OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH! So, as promised, here's the next chapter. Sorry about that last cliffhanger. Well no, not really. HAHAHAHAHA but seriously, I love you guys. **

**Sorry, I just HAD to say that. XD**

**Lifelong potterhead: Thank you for the compliment! I really hope you enjoy the chapter as well!:)**

**Matt: Um, hehe. Really, I know, reading cliffhangers is a pain. But writing them is a lot of fun. :) I'll try not to include any cliffhangers in this one. :)**

**Enjoy!**

~.~.~.~.

Leo:

Pain.

That was the first thing I felt when I opened my eyes. I could taste blood on my lips. The coppery scent of it trickled through my nose. That woke me up fast.

"What the hell?" I exclaimed. I tried to get up, but something restricted me. I looked down, and saw a rope tightly bound against my waist, tying me firmly to a pole. I took in my surroundings.

In front of me, DJ was tied up too. She wasn't tied to a pole, but she was sort of slumped against a wall. To my left, James, Brynn and Rose were all tied to poles like I was. Unlike me, their hands had been bound behind them.

We seemed to be in some sort of a warehouse. Empty chairs were scattered around us. The smell of wood filled the air, mingling with the scent of blood. The others woke up as fast as I had, and looked around, fear bathing their features. DJ tried to move, but discovered that her legs had been tied up too.

We all had some kind of injury. James' mouth was bleeding, Brynn had a nasty wound on her head, Rose's left arm looked like a raw hamburger, DJ seemed to be bleeding in several places, and I could feel my own mouth fill with blood. Someone must have punched my jaw.

"Where are we?" Brynn cried.

"Welcome, to my humble abode!" A voice said from behind her. A boy stepped out of the shadows, coming around them, so he stood beside Brynn on the far side. Rose paled. "That voice…" she managed.

The boy laughed. "Yes, this one remembers me doncha?" he said, grinning widely. "Who are you?" I snapped at him. He spread his hands.

"The name's Brendon Augustus Keel." He took a bow. From behind my three friends, three more guys appeared, each holding a knife as long as my entire forearm.

I turned back to Brendon. He looked disturbing. His dark hair was greased up, and his brown eyes held a sort of manic gleam in them. He grinned wider, and his disgusting teeth did nothing to improve his appearance. The funny thing was, he seemed surprisingly young. He couldn't have been more that twenty.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" James asked. His voice was stern and demanding. Brendon stepped up to Brynn, completely ignoring James. He laughed. "Long-distance trajectories. We used darts to knock you guys unconcious, and then had a little fun, beating you up. Genius, eh?" he looked at me. I scowled.

He knelt in front of Brynn. "This one fought tooth and nail. Unfortunately, four grown dudes are a wee bit too much for her." he took her chin and made her face him. She turned her head away. He laughed again. "Oooh, feisty. I like feisty."

"Stay away from her." James ordered. His eyes held fear, but he was doing a good job of hiding it. Brendon got up and sneered.

"Or what?" he stood in front of James and put his arms on his hip. "What are you gonna do about it huh?" His goons burst out into laughter. Every single one of them had a disgusting animal-like bark of a laugh. I could feel hatred pooling inside me. Hatred for this _maniac_.

Brendon looked around. "Let's see what we have here." He said, as he stooped low to pick something off the ground. His eyes widened in mock surprise. "Oh!" he put a hand on his cheek, while still looking at the object. "It's a screw-driver! And look! It's a little rusty too!" his mouth went back to its sneer, and he walked over to James, kneeling in front of him. "Let me teach you a lesson, kid. Never. Go. Against me."

He drove the screw-driver into James' leg.

James let out a howl of pain, as Brendon yanked it back out. I could hear the others join me in screaming profanities at him. He just laughed. James' leg was bleeding badly. Brendon had stabbed him just beneath the knee.

He walked over to Brynn, and held up her face again. Letting out another cruel laugh, he wiped the blood on the screw-driver off on her face. She shrieked, but was unable to do anything, what with her hands bound.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" I screamed. Brendon flashed me an innocent smile. "Oh, I don't want anything. I've been sent here."

This took me back. Seeing our surprised expressions, he smirked. "Didn't see that coming, did ya?" he said. "It seems certain people don't want you succeeding on this little quest of yours. So they sent me here. I got y'all all nice and comfy, didn't I?"

DJ grunted. "Yeah, stabbing our friend with a screw-driver. _Real_ nice." She said. "Who sent you here?" I asked him, trying to keep the hate out of my voice.

He laughed. "And you really think I'd be stupid enough to tell you that?" he shot back. James was wincing in pain, but not making noise. I struggled against the ropes, but to no avail.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that." Brendon warned. I glared at him. "So you're gonna kill us, yes?" I said. He pretended to think, then shook his head.

"No, killing's _boring_. I'm gonna _break_ you."

He laughed again. I swear, I have heard many people laugh in my life. Some for good reasons, some not so much. But none could make my blood run cold like this guy. He was a heartless killer. He _liked_ massacre. He _liked_ this.

"Why?" I asked, though I already knew the answer. He shrugged. "Mainly because my sponsor paid me healthy money to get y'all." He grinned. "But also because I want to hear you guys when you scream. I like listening to those little tortured screams of yours. It's music to my ears."

I couldn't believe my ears. Never had I met such a blood-thirsty and dark opponent. Only one word came to mind when describing this guy. _Psycho_.

"You're insane." James managed. Brendon glared at him. "Was one blow not good for you?" he scowled.

"What are you? A mortal? A demigod? A wizard?" DJ asked. He grinned. "I'm a wizard." He winked at us. "_And_ a demigod."

For the first time, I felt something besides fear. Confusion was evident on each and every one of our faces. "How's that even possible?" I asked.

Brendon snorted. "'Course it is!" he replied with an air of arrogance. "My mother was a witch, and my father is Ares, god of war."

I shook my head. "You're Frank's Half-brother? Wow, he aint gonna be happy." I struggled to free myself once more, but the ropes were too strong. My only option was to burn them. I was about to do that, when Brendon spoke up again.

"I'm getting bored." He said, with an according expression on his ugly face. It morphed into another sneer. "Let's play a game, shall we?"

That did NOT sound good. I had a feeling that my idea of fun and this guy's idea of fun were two _very_ different things. He held out his hand, and one of his goons passed him a gun. He walked up to me, and for a moment, I thought he was going to shoot me.

But no. He just pushed the gun into my hand, to my utter surprise. He pointed towards DJ. What he said next, made me wish he'd shot me instead.

"Shoot her."

At first I didn't think I'd heard him correctly. "Excuse me?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. He rolled his eyes. "You heard me. Shoot her." he jabbed his finger out in DJ's direction. I merely laughed. "And why, do you think I will agree to doing that?" I asked.

He smirked. Honestly, I was getting tired of his constant smirking. "Thought you might say that." He said, standing up. He went and leaned against the wall behind DJ, who looked extremely confused at this development.

"I decided to give you a little extra incentive." He added. "Boys." He called out. His sidekicks stepped up from behind my friends, and looped their arms around their necks. They pressed the blade of their knife onto the throats of Brynn, James and Rose. Their blades were digging into the skin of their necks. Even a tiny flick of the hand could slit their throats. Rose let out a little yelp, and Brynn simply cried.

"Shoot her, or they die." Brendon told me.

I looked at him in disbelief. DJ laughed weakly. "Mate, if we want target practice, can't we use targets, instead of good ol' DJ here?" she said. Her grin was on her face, but I could see the fear in her.

Brendon pretended not to hear her. He fixed me with those unfeeling brown eyes. "Shoot her, or my boys will slit their throats."

I was about to point the gun at Brendon. He'd given me the perfect weapon; I could finish him here and now. But he seemed to anticipate this. "Ahhh, you think you can shoot me and be done with it, eh?" he said, "Well, yeah, good idea. Except for the fact that your friends will die almost immediately."

He had a point. My hands shook. I couldn't believe this was happening. This psycho wanted me to kill DJ? The same DJ who was my best friend; who was so close, she could have easily been my sister. There was no way I was going to shoot her. No. I would rather die myself.

Brendon seemed to know what I was going to do this time as well. "Oh and if you're thinking about turning the gun on yourself, I wouldn't really advise that. Your friends, along with this girl over here," he kicked DJ's leg, "will die just as soon as you pull the trigger."

I wanted to break down and cry. This couldn't be happening. Why, _why_ couldn't we just for _once_ have something go our way?

"And how do I know you're just going to let my friends go if I shoot DJ?" I asked. I didn't plan on shooting her of course, I was just stalling him. He smirked yet again. Did I mention how much I hated his smirk?

"You have my word." He said. I scoffed. "Oh yeah, I'm going to believe the word of a psychotic cold-blooded murderer." I said. He narrowed his eyes at me. For a second I thought I had made a terrible mistake. But then he simply shrugged.

"I swear on the river styx, that if you shoot this girl, I will let your friends go." He said. I was speechless. This guy knew how to drop shock-bombs. An oath on the river styx was the most binding oath of all time (and yes, I unfortunately speak from experience). Once made, it had to be fulfilled.

Brendon smiled wickedly. "You can kill me, you can shoot me, you can do whatever you want. But nothing is going to stop my boys from slitting their throats. Unless you shoot this girl." He kicked DJ again, and she winced.

She laughed weakly again. "Why me mate?' she asked. She tried to make it sound light-hearted, but I knew she really wanted to know. Brendon shrugged again.

"Oh no one cares about you. You're useless. I'm doing these guys a favor. Honestly, I thought you'd be the easiest to kill. Aren't I kind?" he said, putting a hand on his chest. DJ gaped at him with wide eyes. I knew the comment had struck a nerve, because something changed in her expression.

"DJ, don't listen to him. I can get us out of here." I assured her, which earned me another sarcastic laugh from Brendon. DJ looked at me. Her eyes held an angry defiance. "No." she said simply.

"What?" I asked. I hadn't expected this. DJ hardened her gaze. "Bro, listen to me. No matter what you do, they'll move those knives. You heard the nut. He swore on the styx. If you shoot me, they'll have to let our friends go. So that is _exactly_ what you're going to do."

My mouth fell open. DJ _wanted_ me to shoot her? This was unreal. Surely even the fates couldn't be so cruel as to make me kill my own best friend. I shook my head, tears threatening to spill over my eyes. "DJ, how can I…" I couldn't get myself to complete the sentence.

"Don't do it Leo!" Rose exclaimed. She was crying too.

"Leo, look at me bro. Look at me." DJ said. I obeyed. Her eyes were red too. Her fingers tapped nervously on the floor. Sweat glistened on her forehead. Her usually spiky black hair was now flat on her head.

"Leo, you have to do this. You have to. We need to save our friends." She said. Her tone had never been this serious. Brendon laughed. "Oh yeah, forgot. You need to shoot her in the heart, nothing less. I want a nice good show of blood."

I looked at him with more loathing than I had ever felt for anyone. "You're a monster." I spat. He didn't pay any attention to me. He simply turned to the other guys. "I'm getting bored of all this delay. Kill her." he motioned towards Brynn. The guy's knife dug deeper, drawing blood.

"WAIT!" I yelled. Tears clouded my vision. I couldn't get my mind around what I was going to have to do. This was inhuman.

"Leo, you have to do this. Come on mate, we need to do this. For our friends. You of all people know about sacrifice." DJ said. Her face was sad, but it held an acceptance. "We can't let them die now can we?" she said. A hint of a smile played on her lips. I let out a loose sob.

Rose and James launched into protests, but I had eyes only for my best friend. I ignored everything else. Brendon clapped happily. "Ooooh, he's going to do it!" he chuckled like a little kid, who had just been handed his favorite toy. I hadn't thought it possible for someone to be so cruel.

My hands shook as I lifted the gun. DJ smiled for real for the first time since we had woken up. "That's it mate." She said. I cursed myself, I cursed my luck. I cursed Brendon. But I knew that this was the only way. I pointed the gun at DJ, the person who'd grown to be more like a sister to me than my own half-sisters, and aimed carefully. If I didn't do this, nothing would stop them from killing my friends.

My heart felt as though it was shattering into a million tiny pieces. I looked at DJ once more, giving her an apologizing look, even though I knew that no amount of apologies would excuse this.

"I'm sorry." I said.

I pulled the trigger.

~.~.~.~.

**A/N: Erm… yeah. Please review! It makes me feel really good about writing, and makes me want to wrote more! *weak smile*Sorry about the cliffhanger guys… *weaker smile***


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hello Again! I won't stall you guys too much. I've been very evil, leaving you guys with that cliffy. :) **

**I mean… :( **

**;)**

**Lifelong potterhead: I really am sorry! I hope this chapter is good! I appreciate your reviews SO MUCH! They motivate me to write more.**

**HaywireEagle: I want to apologize if you didn't like my story. I sincerely appreciate the time you took to review. I tried to make DJ likeable, but if you didn't like her, I am truly sorry. I'm not one of the authors who expect nice reviews 24*7, and I do thank you for pointing out my flaws. I also promise to try and make the PJO characters less OOC. Once again, truly sorry if the story wasn't good. :(**

~.~.~.

James:

The gunshot was the loudest thing I'd ever heard. Rose screamed. My jaw dropped open. Greif tore at my throat. I tried to say something, to yell, to cry. But I couldn't speak. My voice had stopped working. I couldn't believe the scene that had just taken place in front of me.

I could see Leo's bullet hit DJ on the left side. She cried out in pain and slumped face first onto the floor. A pool of blood slowly formed next to her shoulder. He'd done it. Leo had shot her in her heart.

Brynn was weeping beside me. Rose was crying too. I was simply staring at DJ's limp body, which was staining the floor red with its blood.

Leo turned to Brendon, his eyes red. His look was filled with more hate than I thought it possible. He was steaming. Literally. Smoky tendrils were curling off of him.

"I did what you said." He spat, looking Brendon in the eye. "Now let my friends go."

I could feel the knife digging into the skin of my neck. It hurt, but the price of having it removed had been too much. DJ had died for us. It was something I'd never be able to forgive myself for that. Brendon smirked and walked over to DJ. He kicked her in her side. I expected her to wince, wanted her to wince, to give some sign that she was still alive. But nothing happened. He jabbed his foot in her side again.

"HEY!" Leo yelled. He was literally glowing now. I knew it wouldn't be long before he burst into flames. "Let. My. Friends. Go." He spoke through gritted teeth. "You swore on the styx."

Brendon looked smug. For a second, I thought he was going to go back on his word, but he smiled. He looked at the guys behind me. "Let them go." He ordered.

Immediately I could feel the knife retract from my neck. A thin trail of blood formed itself on Brynn's where the idiot had almost slit her throat. They hastily cut the rope from around our waists, and shoved us forward.

"Can we go?" Leo asked. I was surprised Brendon wasn't melting under the glare Leo was giving him. He smirked again, and said the exact thing I feared he would.

"I let them go. That doesn't mean I can't harm them."

I expected Leo to blow up then and there. But he simply laughed. It wasn't a "haha you're so funny" laugh. It was a "haha I'm going to kick your butt" laugh. "I thought you were gonna say that." Leo said, echoing the words Brendon had said earlier.

He held out his hand and threw two flaming balls of fire; one at Brendon and the other at his goons. They managed to doge them, but Leo seemed to only be playing for time. He burned through his ropes and ran over to us. He gripped mine and burned them as well. I shook my hands free and took out my wand. I pointed it at Rose's bounds. "Relashio!" I said, causing the rope to break instantly. I did the same thing for Brynn.

Brendon and his gang were coming out of their initial shock. He looked at us with malice. "Get them." He snarled.

And all hell broke loose.

I ran to DJ. She wasn't moving in the least, but even though the fact shamed me to great lengths, I hadn't come to check on her. I slipped my hand in her pocket, and my fingers closed around the metal rod. I brought it out and flicked it. Lancer grew to its full length.

I stole one last glance at DJ. She was lying face-down on the floor; the puddle of blood seemed to get larger by the instant. But I needed to go. Rose, Leo and Brynn wouldn't be able to hold them off forever.

Leo was battling two giants of men with a flaming hammer. His expression was furious, maybe even a little crazy. He'd just shot his best friend. No wonder he was so mad. Brynn was going dagger-on-sword with another goon. They'd not disarmed us, a fact I found a little strange. Then again, they were blinded by bloodlust and arrogance.

As for Rose, she'd taken on Brendon himself. Spells were ricocheting off the walls, threatening to hit anyone. Both had fiery concentration in their eyes.

I ran to help Leo. I blocked a swipe from one of the guys, and Leo slammed the other in the hand with his hammer. He cried out and retreated.

Buzz Cut (he had a really _really_ bad buzz cut) came at me again, his huge dagger glinting. He slashed at me, but I rolled away. I took his next blow on Lancer's hilt, a maneuver I didn't think myself capable of. I swung Lancer in an arc over my head, successfully disarming Buzz Cut. I rammed the butt of my sword onto his head.

Leo was doing well too. He was quick and agile. The fact that he was now completely ablaze helped. The guy he was fighting (I decided to call him Red Head) couldn't get close enough to land an attack. Leo was doing a fine job of distracting him, which gave me the chance to creep around his back. I hit him in the head with Lancer's hilt. I couldn't bring myself to kill them just yet. I was still human.

Brynn let out a cry. I whipped my head around, and saw her stagger back, holding her stomach. Her hands were red, and so was the blade of the guy she was fighting. Anger built up inside me. I ran over and took out my wand. I pointed it at him and yelled "Stupefy!"

Immediately, stunned, he fell to the floor. I pointed my wand at him once again and said "Obliviate." Good. Now he wouldn't remember a thing when he woke up.

The only one remaining was Brendon.

~.~.~.~.

Rose:

The moment Leo let me out of my bounds, I knew my target. My vision was still blurry from crying, but I didn't let that get to me. I yanked out my wand and faced Brendon. His voice was just as cruel and horrifying as I remembered. He'd already deprived me of a friend once. And now, he'd just done it again.

I could feel despair well up inside me. I managed to catch a glimpse of DJ's un-moving body. I hoped to God there was some way in which we could save her. But it did look as though Leo had shot her in the heart. I glared at Brendon. He winked. That made my blood boil in my viens.

"Expelliarmus!" I yelled. Brendon swung out his own wand and deflected the spell faster than lightning. He shot another one at me, and instinctively, I rolled out of the way. I brought my wand up again and yelled "Diffindo!"

Brendon's left arm burst into flames. This distracted him just enough for me to shoot my second spell. "Expelliarmus!" Brendon's wand flew out of his hand. He had managed to pat out the flames, and glared at me. But for the first time, I saw fear in his eyes. He was scared of losing. I would bring that fear to life.

Now wandless, he charged at me with his bare hands. I put up a protective shield, and he barreled right into it. He bounded off. I didn't pay any attention to the others. All I wanted to do was to bring upon this monster the exact pain he had brought me. First Brett, and now DJ. He had burned my best friend alive. Now, he had forced my ally to shoot a girl who was beginning to become something of a sister to me.

He brought out a wicked-looking sword from who-knows-where. He swung at me, my shield now having vanished. I rolled out of the way, and his sword slashed against the ground. He let out an animal-like growl and lunged at me. I managed to deflect his strike with a non-verbal spell.

Brendon now had a fire in his eyes. It was more than a fire. It was a hunger. A hunger for death and carnage. He wanted me dead, and he would do just about anything to get it.

He lashed out with his hand, and caught me by surprise. His fingers gripped my neck, squeezing. I could feel the veins in my head start to bulge out.

I started seeing spots in front of my eyes. For a moment, I thought this would be the end. Then suddenly, Brendon was being tackled off me.

It was James. He was pinning Brendon to the ground, sitting on top of him with his chest under his knee. He was continuously smashing Brendon's head with the end of his sword. I recognized the blade. He'd gotten DJ's weapon. That made a pang of despair go through me, but I forced it down.

James hit Brendon again, and got up. He tossed me what looked like Brynn's dagger. Brendon got up shakily. He seemed disoriented. His head was bleeding. His face was a bloody mass of red. He held up his sword, but he stood no chance.

He swung at us, but he was sluggish. I easily deflected his blade off of mine, which was saying something since I wasn't skilled at all. James pushed me out of the way, and engaged Brendon in a battle. He swung and Brendon side-stepped. He caught James' next strike of the flat of his blade. James locked the tip of Lancer in the hilt of Brendon's sword. He pulled hard, and Brendon's sword clattered out of his hands.

Now disarmed as well, I leapt on top of him, slashing everywhere with my knife. I put all my fury into every hit. Blood covered Brendon.

James had to pull me off of him. Brendon knelt, and looked up at us, his lips dripping blood. He had the nerve to smirk. "What you gonna do?" he asked.

James stepped up, holding out his wand. "Obli-" he started. I cut him off.

"This one doesn't deserve mercy." I simply stated. I glared at Brendon. "He deserves to pay."

James looked reluctant. He shot me an uncertain glance, but stepped back. I gripped my knife tighter and swung it at Brendon's torso, slashing a painful slice across it. "That's for DJ." I snarled.

I looked him in the eye. He was still smirking. "You don't get it do you?" his look was sadistic and unnerving, as though death didn't faze him in the least. "You're all crushed by guilt. That boy killed the girl to save your sorry butts. You all have her death in your hands. I've already broken you."

I let out a scream. I couldn't take any more of his inhumanity. I hardened my gaze and raised my dagger. I spoke five words, almost spitting them out.

"And this is for Brett."

~.~.~.~.

**A/N: Hey, this was almost a non-cliffy ending! #Proud **

**Please review! I'm really sorry if the action wasn't up to the mark, but I love hearing what y'all have to say! It helps me improve! :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Hola! Here's the next chapter, and this is just a filler, so I'm sorry if its bad. Really.**

**Lifelong potterhead: Thank you! Also, I understand your point. So I owe you an explanation. Rose fought most of her fight with her wand, and as for James, he'd already shown skills with the sword before, so I thought he could do it again. Also, they were driven by the want for revenge. That's why they could fight well. I hope that suffices :)**

**Enjoy!**

~.~.~.~.

James:

At first, when Rose said something about Brendon getting what he deserved, I thought she was going to hit him, or knock him out, or maybe tie him up and throw him to the aurors. It was only when she said "And this is for Brett.", that I realized what she was going to do. She raised her dagger high, pointing the end to his heart. She was going to kill him.

Brendon may have been a ruthless, cruel and bloodthirsty piece of road kill, but I wasn't about to let that turn my sister into a murderer.

I threw myself forward just as she brought the dagger down hard.

I put myself between her and Brendon. I caught her wrist and the impact sent the dagger clattering to the floor. She rounded on me with surprising force. "What do you think you're doing?" she exclaimed, already scanning the ground for the weapon. She spotted it and started walking towards it to pick it up, but I caught her arm. She tried to jerk it free, but I held on tight.

"Rose, listen to me." I said in what I hoped was a calming yet stern voice. She glared at me. "What?" she snapped. I took a deep breath. "I can't let you kill him." No sooner had the words escaped my lips, than Rose glared harder. "Why not? In case you haven't noticed, James, DJ's dead. She's frickin dead. Because of this scumbag." She shot back.

I kept my cool. "I know, Rose. Trust me, I can't even begin to describe how I feel about DJ. But killing this nut won't help. It won't make us any better than him. Just think for a second Rose. You really want to become a murderer for this creature? Is this what DJ and Brett would want?"

For a second I thought I'd gone too far. Rose's eyes were almost flaming. The scar on the left side of her face looked ten times more intimidating. I almost cowered, but managed to keep a straight face.

After about five heartbeats of total silence, she removed my arm from hers. She glowered at Brendon. "I hope you rot in hell." She spat at him. She turned to me, and her expression softened just a bit. "Do what you want. Remember. This is for Brett and DJ. Otherwise his head would have been off his shoulders."

I let out a little sigh and let her walk back to Leo, who was trying to take out the knife stuck in Brynn's stomach. It was a small weapon, and I knew it couldn't have hurt much, but Brynn flinched every time Leo moved it. I looked back at Brendon.

I'd run out of words for the thing that was in front of me. It didn't even seem human. He was laughing a sort of snort-like laugh. I didn't even bother saying anything. I simply looked him in the eye and pointed my wand at his head. "Obliviate." I said.

A wisp of blue smoke came out of his head. His eyes rolled to the back and he slumped over. I can't say I felt god about myself at that point, but maybe, just maybe, losing his memory might have turned Brendon into a different person.

I had other priorities at that moment.

The pain in my leg flared up again. I'd been forcing myself to ignore it, but now it felt as though my whole leg was on fire. Pain rippled through every part of me. I started to fall forwards, but suddenly Rose was there, gripping my arms. She slung my hand over her neck and together, we walked over to where DJ lay. Leo and Brynn were kneeling beside her. Rose put me down on the other side, and sat down beside Brynn.

I didn't want to see DJ's corpse, but I knew we had to check on her. Leo carefully flipped her over, and I could see that the entire left side of her shirt was soaked in blood. Her eyes were closed and her hair was completely wet from perspiration. Brynn let out a little sob, and Rose looked away. I on the other hand couldn't tear my eyes off the wound. The wound that had been inflicted to save us. I had been so absorbed in blaming myself; there was no way could have been prepared for what happened next.

DJ cranked open her eyes and said "Boo!"

I was so surprised, that I fell backwards on my butt. Brynn shrieked and Rose stared at DJ, wide eyed. Leo just grinned.

DJ cracked up. "Dude, you should see your faces." She said, cracking up. She winced after letting the small laugh escape her. "Aw, _man_, that hurt." She added. She backed herself up against a wall, and we shuffled forward to join her. Despite the blood pooled on the floor, DJ was still very much alive, and flashing us her trademark annoying grin.

I couldn't get myself to believe it. DJ, whom I'd just seen be shot. How could she still be alive?

All eyes turned to me and I realized I'd just said that out loud. My face flushed and I quickly added "I mean, not that I'm complaining, but how are you not dead? We saw Leo shoot you."

DJ laughed again. "You did see him shooting me. But you didn't see me die, did you?" she winked. I held up my hands for surrender. "Whoa whoa whoa." I pointed to Leo and DJ. "You two better explain what the hell is going on."

Leo grinned even wider. "It's genius, really, it was all her idea." He said, and DJ tried to take a bow while sitting, but failed to do so. She contented herself in giving us a smirk. "We needed Brendon to think I'd shot DJ, so that he would let you go. Of course, there was no way I'd shoot her in the heart, so I did this instead." He continued, waving a hand at DJ. I narrowed my eyes but couldn't see what he was talking about. DJ must've seen my confused expression, for she laughed.

"It's a shoulder wound, James. Look closely. The bullet hit me in the shoulder." She clarified. Now that she pointed it out, I could see the wound. It was just beside her shoulder. A few more millimeters on the shot and it wouldn't have hit DJ at all. It was nowhere near her heart. "When Leo shot me, I needed everyone to think he'd shot me in the heart. This wound looked close enough to be so, but I couldn't take chances." DJ added.

Rose nodded thoughtfully. "So you fell face-first, so that we couldn't see the bullet." She smiled at DJ. "That is genius." She gave Leo a disdainful look and added, "Not that I'm agreeing with you." I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't stop myself from laughing. The mere fact that DJ was still alive was enough to make me happy. And I don't think any of us missed the fact that Rose's tone was slightly different. She seemed as though she was insulting Leo for the record of it; because she didn't want to break her record of never agreeing with him n anything. Surely after he'd shot his best friend to save us, even Rose would have a little respect for him.

I looked at the puddle of blood on the ground. That was a lot of blood out of DJ's system. "We need to give you that ambrosia thing. You'll die from blood-loss otherwise." I said, giving DJ a meaningful look. DJ snorted.

"Please. I've faced injuries a hundred times worse than a simple shoulder wound. I mean," she leaned closer and dropped her voice to a serious whisper, " Once on this quest, I got stabbed in the _heart_."

If my eyes hadn't been held in their sockets by muscles, they would've surely popped out by now. Rose and Brynn didn't look any different. DJ leaned back against the wall with a mildly confused expression on her face, as though this wasn't the reaction she'd been hoping for. "Jeez y'all, relax." She said, " I was kidding. Does no one understand a joke around here?"

I slapped her arm, but winced with the effort. My knee felt as though someone had been using it as a tester to see how much acids could corrode human skin. DJ looked at me. "And puh-lease. If I die, my last words aren't going to be this cheesy. Besides, if I were you, I wouldn't worry about the bullet in my shoulder. I'd worry about that." She pointed to my leg with her hand.

I risked a look at my leg too, something I'd had been avoiding till now. Immediately, I wished I hadn't. I could've been wearing red pants, for all the blood that was on it. I could still see the wound where Brendon had dug in his screw-driver.

"We need to stop the blood." Brynn said. She hesitated for a moment before ripping off her sleeve and tying it tightly around the wound. "Ambrosia would work on Greek poisons. I don't think we can risk it for a screw-driver blow." She said.

"Yeah. Effective against giant Greek beasts. Not against screw-drivers. That's out ambrosia." Leo said with a snort. Rose seemed to be deep in thought. "Maybe we should take you two to a near-by muggle hospital or something." She suggested.

Before I could give my views on the suggestion, a new voice came from behind Rose.

"Oh I don't think that would be necessary."

I lifted my eyes to the source and saw a girl standing there. She looked to be about twelve or fourteen, I couldn't say. She had long auburn hair and wore silvery clothes. A bow hung on her back. I took out my wand tentatively. "Who are you?" I asked, my voice shaking. We weren't in a state of fending off another attack.

The girl seemed unfazed by my warning tone. She simply looked at me with distaste. Her eyes seemed to dig into my soul. I thought I'd done something terribly wrong, and would be instantly vapourized, but she simply shrugged. "Of course. You're a boy. You boys are always so stupid." She said.

I didn't know how to react to that. Before I could judge whether I was offended or surprised, she introduced herself.

"I am Artemis, Goddess of the hunt."

~.~.~.~.~.

**A/N: Short, I know. But I'm really tired and I promise next one will be better. This was a filler.**

**Please review, favourite, follow! They make me real happy.:)**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Hello again! Warning: This chapter sucks. Like, really. But it was needed, else people would have thought what the heck? So I am sorry, and I hope the next one is better.**

**Lifelong potterhead: I agree, that is a really good advice, but the thing is, I'm not planning on making this long. I added this whole part because I wanted that scene between Leo and DJ. But thank you for the advice, and for reviewing! This chapter answers one of your previous questions btw. :)) Hope you like it (even though it stinks). :)**

**Enjoy!**

~.~.~.~.

James:

At first I didn't think I'd heard her right. Another goddess? And that too Artemis?

"Wait, Artemis as in Apollo's twin? Lady of the hunt?" I asked stupidly. She looked at me like I was some sort of a dirty candy wrapper she'd just been asked to throw in the garbage.

"Do you have a problem?" she asked. I shook my head weakly. I had a feeling that if I said anything else, I'd have been a sprinkle of dust in the next few seconds. She snickered and turned away. She knelt beside DJ and smiled.

"A brave warrior. You are very lucky, DJ." She touched DJ's forehead, and looked at Leo. "And you, are a genius." She said it with grudging admiration. "You should have been a girl you could have been one of my hunters, what with that precision of yours."

Leo didn't seem to know how to respond to that, so he simply nodded. DJ was trying to muffle her laugh. I was trying not to pass out from pain.

"Um, Lady Artemis, with all due respect, may I ask the reason for this…" Rose paused mid-sentence. She was searching for the right word. "Visit?" she finally said. Artemis smiled. "A lady of strong will, much like me. I like you, Rose Weasley. As to why I am here, well, that reason is fairly simple."

She smiled at DJ again. "I can't have the heroes who are supposed to save my brother get killed by a sadistic idiot now can I? As annoying as he is, Apollo is still my brother. When I had been kidnapped by Atlas, Apollo had helped the demigods on the quest. I'm merely returning the favor."

She held a hand over DJ's shoulder. A soft glow emitted from the goddess's hand, and DJ cried out in pain. She stayed still, but winced. Slowly, a small object came out from the wound in her shoulder. The bullet.

The tiny metal thing clattered onto the floor, and DJ smirked weakly. Artemis placed her hand tightly on DJ's shoulder, and the wound started to disappear. Soon all that was left of the wound was a small scar, which could be seen through the hole in her shirt. The blood still stained the blue cloth red, but otherwise she looked okay.

Artemis next turned to me. She scowled. " I do not like doing favors for men." She said. Her silver eyes travelled down to my knee, and the frown lines on her forehead deepened. "But just this once, I'll make an exception." She added.

She reached forward and pressed her palm to my knee, hard. I yowled in pain. My knee burned like nothing before. But slowly, the pain began to subside. She retracted her hand, and I could see that the wound had almost vanished. All that was left was a dull throb.

"Thank you." I said, not knowing what else to say. Artemis got up.

"I will leave you now. But before I go, you should know that the two portals ahead test you in the most cruel way possible. They push you to your breaking point. The path of warriors is one of the most dangerous paths of Janus, and not many have been able to cross it. You need to be stronger than ever for the next two portals." She looked at me. "James Sirius Potter, I believe you are in need of a weapon. You too, Rose."

"I'm honored, Lady Artemis, but I think I'll do better in battle with my wand." Rose told her. I furrowed my eyebrows, trying my best to look offended. "I can do good with my wand too!" I protested. Artemis looked at me and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, of course. That must be the reason you end up borrowing DJ's sword for every battle, yes?" She shot back. I opened my mouth, and closed it again, knowing that I had no argument to counter it. Artemis waved her hand, and a belt appeared around my waist. Attached to it was a scabbard, about three inches thick, and several inches long. The hilt of a sword was sticking out. I wrapped my fingers around the leather grip and pulled it out.

I almost dropped it in awe. The sword was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. About a meter and a half long, it shone with a silvery color. One side was defined into a fine edge, while the other was jagged. It was deadly and stunning.

"Lady Artemis, I don't even know…" I tried to thank her, but found words failing me. She gave me a meaningful look.

"That sword was made by the eldest Cyclops. It has seen many battles in its time, James Sirius Potter. It has taken many lives. And saved many. Its name," Artemis paused, drawing in a breath. "is Scarlock."

"Scarlock." I repeated after her. The word sounded foreign on my lips, but at the same time, I felt as though the sword had been made for me. That was ridiculous, of course, the sword had been made ages ago. But that's how I felt right then.

"I've already helped you a lot. I gave McGonagall most of the information about the quest." Artemis continued. Leo looked at her. "What?" he asked.

"Well of course I told her. How else do you think she got to know?" Artemis replied. She turned and walked a few feet ahead.

"I wish you luck on this quest, heroes. It wouldn't do for my brother to be killed." She said. She turned back to us and gave us a serious look. "Oh and one more thing." Her eyes moved downwards, and she seemed to be looking directly at Rose.

"Not everyone can be trusted."

With that, she spread her hands, and started to glow. Leo, Brynn and DJ averted their eyes, and Rose and I followed them.

When I looked to the spot in which she'd been standing, I found her to be no longer there. It must have been some teleportation thing these gods did.

I looked back at my teammates. "What do you think she meant? About not everyone being trustworthy?" I asked.

"I dunno about that, but I think we need to get moving." Rose answered. She was holding out her hand, in which she held the compass. It was glowing blue this time. "Five hundred meters to the next portal." She said.

DJ got up shakily. Leo tried to help her, but she put out an arm to stop him. "I'm fine, thanks. Heck, that's the second bloody time I've had to be healed by a god on this quest. For all we know, net time the fates themselves will be along to offer me some Aspirin." She said. We laughed, but our laughter was muted.

DJ and Leo threw open a rickety old door, and I found myself breathing in the fresh air of the night. I was ready to get out of that warehouse, whatever awaited me at the portal. The two demigods did taxicab whistles, and almost immediately, the Pegasi swooped out of the sky and settled in front of us. Rose unhooked her broom from Brisingr and mounted it. DJ and Leo sat atop Brisingr, Leo holding the reins. I glanced towards Brynn. Her check was still bloody from where Brendon had wiped my blood off on it. I reached forward and wiped it off. "Ready?" I asked her. She nodded.

I hoisted myself onto Blackjack, Scarlock dangling at my side. Surprisingly, the sword added no weight at all. I stuck out my arm and Brynn took it, pulling herself up behind me. I nodded at Leo, and we spurred the Pegasi into flight. I tried to ready my heart for what lay in wait, but Artemis' words echoed in my ears.

What had she meant?

~.~.~.~.

James:

"This is so frustrating!" DJ complained. She threw her arms, huffing loudly. "Fourth! This is the fourth forest we land up in! Why can't the bloody portals ever be in like, a burger shop or something?"

"No argument there _mi hermana_." Leo agreed. Rose glared at both of them, but didn't say anything.

We had just landed in yet another clearing of the forest. According to Rose and Brynn, this was the correct place, but like DJ, I wasn't all that happy to see another forest. I'd had quite enough of them for quite a while.

"The portal should be here. We would have already found it by now had it not been for your constant bickering." Rose snapped at Leo. He rolled his eyes. Even he must have gotten used to her insults by now.

As if on cue, a voice called out from behind us.

"Looking for me?"

I spun around, drawing my sword in the process. I held it out in front of myself defensively.

A lady stood there. She had a regal and timeless face, with flowing hair the colour of obsidian. Her blue eyes were piercing. She wore a greek style gown, which lapped at her ankles. She was beautiful the way a statue might have been beautiful.

"Who are you?" DJ asked, stepping forward. She had her bow drawn and held it straight at the lady's face. The lady frowned.

"Oh none of that, young one. Put those nasty things down." She ordered. DJ shot me a wary glance. Seeing no other option, I nodded. We lowered out weapons, and looked expectantly at the lady. She cleared her throat.

"I am Ariadne, guardian of the second portal."

DJ stepped back. Leo looked surprised. "Ariadne as in, wife-of-Mr.D Ariadne? The lady with the string?" he asked. Ariadne nodded.

"Mr.D?" I asked Leo. He shrugged. "Dionysus. Long story." He explained. I sighed. "Right, of course. Sorry I asked."

Ariadne seemed to be calculating. "Wait a minute…" she said, narrowing her eyes at us. "This portal can only be crossed by four people. There are five of you. One of you has to leave."

I stared at her. "What?" Rose half-screamed. "One of us has to leave?"

Ariadne nodded. "That's right. This portal can be crossed only by four people, or less. I can allow you to take your Pegasi through, but definitely not another person. Now, all you have to decide is which one of you will leave."

I had zoned out after the first sentence. I turned to face my friends. All of them looked a little grave. Rose glared at Ariadne. "Why not?" she demanded. "Why can't all five of us go through?"

Ariadne shrugged, looking a little bored. "Because you simply can't. Don't argue, just hurry up and decide. Or I'll close this portal for all of you, and no one will be able to cross."

"Guys." DJ said. "I'll go. Anyways I've been pretty much useless till now. It won't make much of a difference."

I rounded on her. "Useless? Useless? You took a bloody bullet for us DJ. If anyone's going, it's gonna be me. That's what a leader does." I said.

"Hey, speaking of useless, I can't really list down pages of things I've done either. I should go." Leo put in.

"I can't say I disagree with fireboy, but you guys could do fine on this quest without me too. How about I go back?" Rose added.

The four of us burst into an argument, each intent of proving how they'd been useless in the quest so far. Our voices were rising, but Brynn's voice cut through it like a knife.

"SHUT IT!"

We dutifully obeyed and looked at her. She was glaring at us. "I'm going, and that's bloody final." She said. I opened my mouth to protest, but she held up her hand. "No James. This quest needs you guys. It only makes sense that I go back."

She turned to Ariadne, and I could feel my stomach twisting. I didn't want Brynn to leave. "How do I go back?" She asked Ariadne.

Ariadne smiled. She held out her palm, and a vial appeared in it, filled with a clear liquid. "Drink this, and it'll take you back home." She said. Brynn nodded and turned to us.

She gave Leo, Rose and DJ quick hugs. Finally, she stepped in front of me, and took my hand. She pressed something cold into my palm. I looked down to see a gold coin glittering in my hand. "What…?" I asked. Brynn smiled sadly. "It was gifted to me by my father. Keep it. As a token of our friendship."

I tired to protest and give the coin back, but she cut me off by engulfing me in a tight hug. She almost cracked my ribs.

"Stay alive." She whispered in my ear. She pulled away and looked at me. "I'll try my best." I replied. Brynn looked a little panicky. "No seriously. Personal favor okay? Stay alive."

She didn't give me a chance to respond. She siply took the vial from Ariadne and tipped its contents into her mouth. The last thing I saw of her were her sad eyes, before she disappeared under a shimmer.

We all were silent for a moment, before Rose spoke. "Brynn's gone. What now?" her voice held anger. Ariadne didn't seem affected. She only smiled

"Now," she said, "it's time for the test."

~.~.~

**A/N: Yeah, I know. Sucky chapter. I didn't like it at all, but it was a necessary filler. I'm really really really reall sorry about this boring thing. I'll make the next one better, that's a promise!**

**Please review!**

**:)**


End file.
